THE  DAUNTLESS 


THE  COURSE  OF  A 
GREAT  ADVENTURE 


BASIL  MATHEWS 


BS  2505  .M363  1916 

Mathews,  Basil  Joseph,  1879- 

1951. 
Paul  the  dauntless 


/<?^ 


I 


PAUL  THE  DAUNTLESS 


THE  BOY  SAUL  OX  THE  QUAY-SIDE  IN  TARSUS  HARBOUR 
Now  the  storks  have  come  there  will  be  no  more  rain  or  storm." 


PAUL  THE  DAUNTLESS 

THE  COURSE  OF  A  GREAT  ADVENTURE 


^        BY  /  ! A  i 

BASIL  MATHEWS,  M. 


-A.   i^^ 


ILLUSTRATED  IN  COLOUR  AND  BLACK-AND-WHITE 

FROM  DRAWINGS  BY  ERNEST  PRATER 

AND  WITH  REPRODUCTIONS  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 

BY  THE  AUTHOR 

AND  MAPS 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto :  25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    100    Princes    Street 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 
Prologue 

The  Path  of  the  Storks 


9 
17 


BOOK  I 

IN   TRAINING 

I.  The  Tribe  of  the  Youngest  Son 

II.  The  Loom  of  the  Tent-Maker 

III.  On  the  Caravan  Road  . 

IV.  The  Golden  Age 

V.  "Whom  Say  Ye  that  I  Am?" 

VI.  The  Scourge  of  the  Nazarenes 

VII.  The  Great  Adventure  . 

VIII.  The  Untravelled  World 

IX.  The  Two  Escapes     . 

X.  The  Queen  of  the  East  . 

XI.  The  Call  Abroad   . 


25 
28 

43 
51 
60 

66 
76 

83 

91 

99 

108 


BOOK  II 
THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

XII.  The  Island  Adventure  . 

XIII.  From  Lowland  to  Highland 

XIV.  Worshipped  and  Stoned 
XV.  The  Return  Journey     . 

XVI.    The  Decisive  Battle 
XVII.    Finding  a  Son  ... 
XVm.    Westward  Ho!. 


117 

128 

139 
148 

155 
164 

176 


CONTENTS 


BOOK   III 

STORM   AND   STRESS 

XIX.  The  Shout  of  the  Slave  Girl 

XX.  Earthquake      .... 

XXI.  The  Goad  of  God  . 

XXII.  The  Sea  of  Islands  . 

XXIII.  The  Scorn  of  Athens  . 

XXIV.  The  Challenge  to  Corinth 
XXV.  "  Lone  on  the  Land,  and  Home 

less  on  the  Water  "  . 
XXVI.     The  Defiance  of  Artej.iis   . 
XXVII.     The  Foiled  Plot    . 
XXVIII.     "  One  Who  Marched  Breast  For 

ward  " 

XXIX.     "Away  with  Him" 
XXX.     "  I  Appeal  to  C^sar!"  . 
XXXI.     The  King  and  the  Man  in  Chains 


185 
194 
200 
207 
213 
224 

235 
250 

267 

287 
301 

311 


BOOK  IV 
FINISHING   THE    COURSE 

XXXII.     The  Typhoon 321 

XXXIII.  Shipwreck 326 

XXXIV.  The  Castor  and  Pollux          .        .  334 
XXXV.     On  the  Appian  Way      .        .        .  341 

XXXVI.     "  Mightier  than  the  Sword  "    .  347 

Epilogue 359 

Chronology  of  the  Life  of  Paul  363 

Bibliography 367 

Index  ......       .       .  369 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

In  Color 
„         t^       .        ,      ^  t,  facing 

trom  Drawings  by  Ernest   Prater  page 

The  Boy  Saul  on  the  Quay-side  in  Tarsus  Harbour  Title 

Camping  for  the  Night  on  the  Way  to  Jerusalem          .       .  48 

Saul  Consenting  to  the  Death  of  Stephen     ....  72 

Paul  and  Barnabas  Before  Sergius  at  Paphos    ....  126 

Paul  Beaten  with  Roman  Rods  at  Philippi      ....  194 

"  He  Would  Talk  by  the  Wayside  with  the  Leaders  of  the 

Camel   Caravans " 244 

The  Roman  Guard  Leading  Paul  from  Jerusalem  at  Night  302 

Paul  on  the  Appian  Way 346 

Black  and  White 
From  Drawings  by  Ernest   Prater 

Judas  Betraying  Jesus  to  the  Soldiers 62 

Saul  in  the  Street  Called  Straight,  Damascus       ...  86 

Paul's  Escape  from  Damascus 92 

Paul  and  Barnabas  in  Antioch 102 

Paul  and  Barnabas  Being  Driven  from  Antioch  in  Pisidia  136 

Paul  and  Barnabas  Travelling  on  the  Plateau       .       .       .  150 

The  Testimony  of  a  Female  Slave 186 

The  Shipwreck  at  Malta 332 

Black  and  White 

From    Photographs   by   the   Author 

Roman  Entrance  to  the  Street  Called  Straight,  Damascus   .  88 

The  Harbour  at  Paphos,   from  Which  Paul  and  Barnabas 

Sailed 128 

7 


8  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

The  Site  of  Lystra 144 

Camels  Descending  Cilician  Pass,  Taurus  Mountains       .  171 

Athens 216 

A  Street  in  Corinth,  and  the  Acro-Corinth    ....  228 

The  Cilician  Gates 248 

Ruins  of  Roman  Citadel  in  Which  Paul  Was  Imprisoned 

at  Csesarea 308 

Maps 

I    From  the  Nazareth  Hill  Crest 25 

II.  The  Cities  of  Paul's  Early  Life 117 

III    The  World  of  Paul's  Travels 185 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  was  at  night,  on  the  deck  of  a  ship  in  the  East- 
ern Mediterranean  and  watching  the  masts  swing 
dizzily  across  the  face  of  the  moon,  that  I  first 
had  the  feehng  of  really  beginning  to  know  Paul. 

The  stars  above  were  the  same  that  he  had  watched 
as  he  sailed  for  Cyprus  on  his  first  adventure.  There 
was  the  lift  and  fall  of  the  same  sea,  the  same  splash 
of  water  from  the  plunging  bows;  the  same  stir  of  the 
fresh  night  breeze  that  had  cooled  his  temples.  In 
a  strange,  intimate  way  Paul  seemed  to  be  standing 
there  looking  westward  over  the  rail — just  as  he  stood 
with  Barnabas  when  they  headed  for  Cyprus. 

So,  during  the  long  journey  in  Paul's  footsteps,  we 
felt  every  day  that  we  could  see  him  more  clearly. 
We  walked  in  Tarsus,  the  city  where  he  was  born; 
and  saw  boys  repeating  the  verses  that  he  learned 
there.  With  him  we  watched  the  tawny  river  Cydnus 
run  from  the  white  mountains  of  Taurus  through  the 
great  plain  down  to  the  shimmering  sea. 

From  Jerusalem,  where,  as  an  undergraduate,  he 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  we  followed  him  to 
Caesarea,  where  the  foundations  of  the  great  Roman 
citadel  in  which  Paul  stood  before  Felix  and  Festus 
still  defy  the  breakers  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  to 
Damascus,  where  you  can  still  walk  under  the  Roman 
arch  through  the  city  wall  that  led  him  into  the  Street 

9 


10  PAUL  THE  DAUNTLESS 

called  Straight,  and  watch  the  tent-maker  at  work  in 
the  bazaar. 

We  walked  the  beach  of  Salamis,  where  he  landed 
on  the  island  of  Cyprus,  and  watched  the  sailing  boats 
creep  out  of  the  little  old  harbour  at  Paphos,  whence 
he  sailed  to  Pamphylia.  We  climbed  the  glorious  grey 
gorges  of  the  Taurus  mountains  and  shared  with  Paul 
the  awful  silence  and  soHtude  of  the  Cilician  Gates. 
To  do  this  and  to  go  beyond  the  Taurus  on  to  the  high 
plateau,  and  all  day — and  day  after  day — to  fol- 
low in  his  steps,  side  by  side  with  the  soft-footed 
camels,  from  Iconium  to  Lystra  and  thence  to  Derbe, 
westward  to  Antioch  in  Pisidia  and  on  and  on  to 
Ephesus,  was  to  begin  to  understand  a  little  of  the 
matchless  power  and  patience  of  this  hero  of  "  the 
forward  tread." 

Sailing  -  from  Smyrna  to  Athens,  the  glory  of  a 
purple  sunset  in  the  ^gean  Sea — 

"as  it  were  a  glassy  sea  mingled  with  fire" — 

the  deathless  beauty  of  the  Parthenon  and  all  the 
majesty  of  the  Acropolis,  still  spread  themselves  for 
us  as  they  did  long  ago  for  him.  Yet  more  wonderful 
than  the  Parthenon  itself  is  the  majestic  temple  of 
Paul's  thought — so  lofty,  so  spacious,  so  glorious  in 
its  beauty  and  dazzling  in  its  daring.  These  swift- 
racing,  passionate  letters  of  his  seemed  as  though  the 
ink  on  them  was  hardly  dry — so  fresh  they  were — as 
we  read  them  on  the  vast  plain  of  the  Galatian  cities, 
in  the  valley  going  down  to  Ephesus,  on  the  great  hill 
over  Corinth. 

We  stood  on  the  quay  at  Puteoli,  where  he  landed 


INTRODUCTION  11 

in  Italy,  and,  passing  along  the  Appian  Way,  entered 
Rome  with  him,  and  walked  the  corridors  of  Nero's 
Golden  House  and  the  Forum.  Nor  can  one  tread  un- 
moved the  road  where  Paul  strode  bravely  out  to  the 
block  and  sword  of  the  executioner. 

The  frightful  power  of  a  snow  blizzard  in  the  moun- 
tain pass  over  Antioch,  the  smiting  heat  of  the  blaz- 
ing sun  on  the  beach  at  Corinth  where  the  blue  water 
has  the  wiles  of  a  beautiful  witch,  gave  us  a  still 
deeper  reverence  for  the  sturdy,  dauntless  daring  of 
this  man  who  was  tossed  in  tempest,  drenched  with 
rains,  and  burned  in  the  summer  heat;  smitten  with 
fever,  robbed,  stoned,  beaten,  and  wrecked;  and,  still 
undaunted,  went  on  to  declare,  as  he  ran  his  race  in  the 
Stadium  of  the  Roman  world 

"  I  press  on  toward  the  goal,  unto  the  prize  of  the 
high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 


This  life  of  Paul  the  Tarsian  has  been  written  after 
I  had  taken  these  journeys  personally,  and  having  read 
books  in  which  the  life  of  Paul,  the  truth  of  the  book 
of  Acts,  and  the  Pauline  authorship  of  the  Letters  is 
discussed,  and  after  having  studied  the  life  of  the 
Roman  Empire  round  the  Mediterranean  in  the  time 
of  Paul  and  Nero.^ 

Everything  stated  in  the  book  I  believe  to  be  his- 
torically true  and  accurate  in  detail.  The  life  of 
Saul  in  Tarsus,  for  instance,  is  built  up  of  details 
which  must  inevitably  have  happened  to  a  Jewish  boy 
living  in  Tarsus  at  that  time;  and  from  a  reconstruc- 

*  §ee  Bibliography  for  list  of  books. 


12  PAUL  THE  DAUNTLESS 

tion  of  Roman  Tarsus  itself  based  on  reading,  obser- 
vation, and  conversations  on  the  spot.  But  I  should 
have  no  confidence,  even  then,  in  hoping  for  this 
historical  accuracy  had  not  Dr.  Bartlet,  of  Mansfield 
College,  Oxford,  read  the  whole  book  and  given  most 
valuable  criticism  and  suggestion,  while  Dr.  Christie, 
of  Tarsus;  Dr.  Masterman,  of  Jerusalem;  Canon 
Hanauer  and  Dr.  Frank  Mackinnon,  of  Damascus; 
Dr.  Dodd,  of  Konia  (Iconium);  and  Miss  Kathopa- 
thakes,  of  Athens,  have  contributed  priceless  assistance 
with  regard  to  the  places  where  their  knowledge  is  so 
intimate  and  authoritative.  Sir  William  Ramsay, 
D.c.L.,  the  greatest  of  our  archaeological  authorities, 
has  given  most  generous  guidance,  both  in  my  travel 
in  Asia  Minor  and  in  regard  to  difficult  points  in  the 
narrative.  He  has  added  to  these  kindnesses  by  his 
permission  to  reproduce  a  drawing  and  his  Chronology 
of  the  life  of  Paul.  Dr.  Moffat  has  kindly  permitted 
extensive  quotations  from  his  vivid  and  authoritative 
translation  of  the  New  Testament.  Miss  Rawle  has 
with  great  kindness  made  the  Index.  I  wish  to  express 
gratitude  to  these  and  to  others  who  have  given  notable 
help,  particularly  the  Revs.  W.  H.  Findlay,  m.a.,  and 
J.  Shaw  Griffith,  m.a. 

Thus  guided,  we  shall  in  this  book  try  to  go  in  the 
footsteps  of  Paul.  It  will  not  be  all  easy  travelling 
for  any  of  us,  to  journey  with  this  daring  explorer 
of  the  Unseen;  there  is  some  steep  hill-climbing,  some 
scrambling  over  boulders,  long  flat  tramps  over  the 
plain,  and  dangerous  sea- journeys  for  anyone  who 
will  attempt  really  to  follow  the  life  of  this  man 
whose  eager  brain  was  ever; 


INTRODUCTION  13 

"Voyaging  on  strange  seas  of  thought 
Alone ! " 

But,  if  you  will  (as  we  sing  at  school)  "  Follow 
up,  follow  up,"  trudge  by  him  till  you  really  know 
him,  you  will  have  found  for  yourself  one  of  the 
great  companions  of  the  world. 

BASIL  MATHEWS. 
'Whitsuntide,  1916. 


Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  (Roman)  rods, 

Once  was  I  stoned, 

Thrice   I   suffered  shipwreck, 

A  night  and  a  day  have  I  been  in  the  deep ; 

In  journeyings  often, 

In  perils  of  rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers. 

In  perils  from  my  race,  in  perils  from  the  Gentiles, 

In  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness, 

In  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren; 

In  labour  and  travail,  in  watchings  often. 

In  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often. 

In  cold  and  nakedness. 

The  Second  Letter  to  the  Corinthians, 
chapter  xi,  verses  25-27. 


PROLOGUE 

THE  PATH  OF  THE  STORKS 


THE  PATH  OF  THE  STORKS 

A  BOY  stood,  one  spring  morning,  on  the  quay- 
side below  the  great  city  where  he  Hved. 
His  ears  and  eyes  were  full  of  the  strange 
music  and  colour  of  the  life  of  a  busy  harbour.  The 
sing-song  chant  of  the  sailors  as  they  pulled  the  ropes 
through  the  creaking  pulleys;  the  swing  of  bales  of 
goat's  hair  cloth  from  the  quay,  and  the  thud  as  they 
dropped  into  the  hold  of  the  ship;  the  discontented 
grunt  of  a  tawny  camel  as  the  stuffed  sacks  were  lifted 
from  the  quay-side  and  lashed  on  his  back;  the  splash 
and  gleam  of  oars  in  the  water  as  a  boat  put  across 
the  harbour,  breaking  the  reflections  of  ships  and 
masts  into  a  thousand  ripples — all  made  him  throb  with 
that  desire  which  tingles  in  a  boy  as  he  watches  ships 
go  down  to  the  sea. 

The  hunger  for  wider  horizons,  the  blind  craving 
for  the  sting  of  the  salt  of  the  sea,  and  the  sight  of 
land  at  dawn,  burnt  in  the  boy  like  a  fever. 

A  white,  swiftly  passing  reflection  in  the  water 
startled  him  out  of  his  dream,  and  lifting  his  oval 
Jewish  face  he  saw  strange  birds  sailing  across  the 
blue  sky.  They  flew  northward  from  the  sea  over 
the  harbour  and  the  city  of  Tarsus  with  slow  move- 
ments of  their  great  white  wings.  Their  long  necks 
were  stretched  forward  toward  the  snow-covered 
[Taurus  mountain-range.  Their  still  longer  legs  trailed 
behind  them,  like  the  wake  of  a  ship  in  the  sea. 

17 


18  PROLOGUE 

"  Now  the  storks  have  come  there  will  be  no  more 
rain  and  storm,"  he  would  hear  the  sailors  say  as 
they  scrubbed  and  tarred  their  ships,  bending  new 
sails  and  reeving  fresh  rope  in  last  year's  frayed  rig- 
ging. For  spring  was  in  the  air.  The  Great  Sea 
which  had  been  closed  to  the  ships  through  all  the 
stormy  winter  days  was  open  again,  and  the  busy 
sea-life  of  the  Mediterranean  was  to  begin  again. 

"  The  storks !  Where  do  they  come  from  ?  Where 
are  they  flying  to?  Why  do  they  go  in  the  spring- 
time?" 

The  questions  which  any  boy  as  eager  and  keen 
as  young  Saul  of  Tarsus  would  ask  filled  his  mind 
as  he  walked  back  along  the  riverside  homeward.  The 
river  was  running  full,  for  the  snows  were  melting 
in  the  mountains  and  the  waters  were  running  into  the 
lake-harbour  below  Tarsus  and  then  out  between  the 
banks  down  to  the  sparkling  sea.  At  last  he  reached 
home,  and  his  bearded  father  would  have  to  rack  his 
brain  for  everything  that  he  could  remember  about 
the  storks. 

So  young  Saul  learned  that  the  storks  came  from 
far,  far  away  South,  moved  by  an  inner  Voice  which 
called  them  to  the  mountains  and  seas  of  the  North. 
All  up  the  long  valley  of  the  Jordan  they  had  flown, 
and  on  the  edge  of  the  Syrian  desert  they  had  halted 
to  feed  on  the  snails,  the  grasshoppers,  and  the  locusts. 
When  they  had  rested,  rising  again  heavily  in  the  air, 
they  floated  over  the  orchards  and  thousand  roofs  of 
Damascus,  and  the  white  under  their  black  wings  re- 
flected the  Lebanon  snows.  Flying  on  and  on,  across 
the  gulf  and  the  great  plain  of  Cilicia,  they  were  now 


THE  PATH  OF  THE  STORKS  19 

over  Saul's  home  in  Tarsus  itself.  Some  would  stay 
there  and  would  rest  and  lay  eggs,  hatching  out  in 
the  early  summer  their  quaint,  downy,  long-legged 
young. 

But  most  of  them  would  fly  across  Tarsus  still 
northward  with  tireless  wings,  rising  from  the 
Cilician  plain  to  the  hills,  and  then  from  the  hills  to 
the  grim  mountain-ravines  of  Taurus,  down  which 
the  tumbling  cascades  plunged  to  join  the  Cydnus 
river  running  through  Tarsus  to  the  sea.  Over  green 
pine  and  grey  peak,  higher  and  always  higher  the 
storks  rose  till  the  narrow  rock-gateway — the  Cilician 
Gates — took  them  into  its  shadow  and  they  came  out 
again  in  the  broader  valleys  north  of  the  Taurus 
range. 

The  storks  would  hear  beneath  them  the  sound  of 
running  water  which  filled  all  the  valleys  and  the  slow 
ting-ting  of  the  bells  that  swayed  with  the  camels  that 
strode  along  the  winding  road.  Sometimes  the  cry  of 
a  driver  would  shatter  the  quiet,  the  crack  of  his  whip 
and  the  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs  on  the  stones,  as  the 
Roman  post  rode  through  the  pass,  bearing  the  orders 
of  the  Emperor  to  his  proconsuls  and  generals. 

The  storks  could  not  stop,  for  the  inner  Voice 
which  drove  them  northward  in  the  spring  still 
burned  in  them.  They  passed,  and  still  rising, 
launched  out  of  the  mountains  on  to  the  high  wind- 
swept plateau  of  Anatolia.  The  great  tableland  lay 
in  the  sunshine — spread  out  under  them  from  moun- 
tain to  mountain.  And  still  the  Great  Road  stretched 
forward,  league  upon  league,  North  and  West,  beyond 
the  reach  even  of  the  eyes  of  the  birds. 


20  PROLOGUE 

The  long  empty  reaches  of  the  road  were  broken 
here  by  a  line  of  quiet  Pilgrim  Jews  on  their  way 
South-East  to  the  hills  of  Jerusalem,  there  by  a  cara- 
van of  camels  taking  wool  to  Tarsus,  and  a  medley 
of  laden  trotting  asses.  Under  the  shelter  of  a  hill 
the  homely  sheds  of  a  rest-house  for  the  drivers  and 
their  beasts  made  the  awful  treeless  distances  less 
desolate. 

Below  them  the  storks  heard  the  tramp  of  Roman 
legionaries  marching  out  to  quell  a  wild,  turbulent 
tribe  that  had  hung  its  defiant  little  village  among 
the  Pisidian  peaks  to  the  South;  and  the  ring  of  ham- 
mer upon  stone  where  a  gang  of  slaves  were  laying 
a  stretch  of  Roman  road  between  Iconium  and  Lystra. 
The  swift  flight  of  the  birds  mocked  the  slow  crawl 
of  oxen  crossing  and  re-crossing  the  ploughed  land. 
The  bleat  of  kids  and  lambs  to  their  mothers,  as  the 
flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of  goats  nibbled  their  way 
toward  the  solitary  well,  came  up  to  the  storks  as  they 
swept  along  their  unseen  Path  in  the  air. 

But  the  Voice  within,  that  had  sent  them  North, 
would  not  let  the  birds  pause  till  a  broken  coast,  dotted 
with  gleaming  cities  and  fringed  with  foam,  lay  under 
their  spread  of  wing.  The  East  was  now  behind  them. 
They  had  reached  the  ^gean  Sea.  But  they  could 
not  furl  their  wings  and  rest,  unspurred  by  the  Voice, 
till  the  sea  and  its  islands  had  been  crossed  and  the 
winds  of  Macedonia  stirred  among  their  breast  feath- 
ers. 

The  Voice  that  spurred  the  storks  was  the  Voice 
that  spoke  in  the  boy  on  the  harbour-side  at  Tarsus — 


:rHE  PATH  OF  THE  STORKS  21 

as  He  speaks  to  all  boys.    The  desire  to  range  with 
the  birds  had  broken  out  within  him.    He  felt 


"A  sting  that  bids 
Nor  sit,  nor  stand — but  go." 

the  yearning  to  sail  new  seas  and  to  feel  the  mountain- 
road  under  his  feet. 


So  it  was  to  be.  The  storks  had  followed  that  Un- 
seen Path  in  the  air  from  South  to  North,  from  Nile 
and  Jordan  to  Danube,  through  all  the  ages — as  they 
follow  it  to-day.  On  the  Great  Road  under  them — 
the  road  that  lies  like  a  bridge  from  Europe  to  Asia — 
Alexander  the  Great  had  swept  with  his  swarming 
armies,  creeping  over  the  plain  and  storming  through 
the  Cilician  Gates,  to  pour  like  a  river  in  full  flood 
over  the  Cilician  Plain  and  down  through  the  hills 
of  Syria. 

Down  the  same  road  Cyrus  had  ridden  with  his 
Ten  Thousand,^  the  conquerors  of  the  West  seeking 
to  put  their  heel  on  the  bowed  neck  of  the  East.  Up 
the  kingly  Road  on  the  plateau  Xerxes  had  cantered 
westward,  the  head  of  the  might  of  Persian  power — 
the  wave  of  Asia  breaking  vainly  on  the  rocky  coast 
of  Europe.  And  now,  in  the  days  of  the  Boy  of 
Tarsus,  the  Road  echoed  to  the  thunders  of  the  legions 
of  Rome.  She,  the  Mistress  of  the  World,  had  planted 
her  armies  along  the  Road,  and  held  the  plateau,  the 
mountains,  and  the  plains  by  the  sea,  in  the  grip  of 
her  strong  hand. 

*  Xenophon :  Anabasis. 


22  PROLOGUE 

The  boy  Saul  was  to  feel  this  same  Road  under 
his  eager  feet.  The  blood  of  the  East  throbbed  in  his 
Jewish  veins,  and  the  pride  of  birth  as  a  Roman  citi- 
zen burned  in  his  brain,  while  he  spoke  in  the  swift 
speech  of  Greece.  So  he  was  the  child  both  of  the 
East  and  West.  And  he  was  to  follow  the  great 
Path  of  the  Storks,  the  Road  of  Conquest,  from 
Judaea  to  Damascus,  and  through  Antioch  to  Tarsus, 
over  by  the  Cilician  Gates  and  all  along  that  high 
tableland  to  the  broken  ^gean  coast.  Nor  was  he  to 
furl  the  wings  of  his  desire  till  he  had  swept  across 
the  ^gean  to  face  the  learning  of  Athens  and  dare  the 
pride  of  Rome. 

It  was  to  be  a  very  great  Adventure — the  life  of 
this  boy  who  stood  at  the  quay-side  at  Tarsus  watch- 
ing the  storks.  It  was  to  be  more.  For  the  kings 
of  the  East  and  the  West — Alexander  and  Cyrus  and 
Xerxes — who  had  fought  and  marched  on  that  Road, 
had  passed;  their  victories  were  lost,  and  their  em- 
pires crumbled. 

But  Paul's  Adventure,  stoned  though  he  was  and 
beaten,  robbed  and  imprisoned,  shipwrecked  and 
slain,  was  to  issue  in  a  conquest  that  would  stand  when 
Rome  had  fallen; — in  an  Empire  covering  both  East 
and  West — whose  armies  would  some  day  march  be- 
yond even  the  Path  of  the  Storks  at  the  command  of  a 
King  who  was  crowned  with  a  Crown  of  Thorns. 


BOOK  I 
IN  TRAINING 


FROM    THE    NAZARETH    HILL    CREST 


THE  TRIBE  OF  THE  YOUNGEST  SON 

"T T  THAT  shall  we  call  him? " 

W        The  question  that  all  the  mothers  in  the 
world    have    asked    would    leap    to    this 
mother's  lips  as  the  father  stooped  to  take  his  first 
look  at  his  baby  son. 

The  father  was  proud  that  he  himself  belonged  to 
the  Tribe  of  the  Youngest  Son — the  tribe  that  gave 
the  first  warrior-king  to  his  nation.  All  the  hot  pas- 
sion for  his  country  and  people  would  burn  in  him 
as  he  thought  of  his  own  tribe  of  Benjamin — and 
how,  out  of  that 

"  smallest  of  the  tribes  of  Israel," 
and 

"  from  the  least  of  all  the  families  of  the  tribe," 
the  great  soldier-king  Saul  had  been  chosen  to  be  the 
first  monarch  they  ever  had — 

"  a  young  man  and  a  goodly  ,  .  .  from  his  shoulders 
and  upward  he  was  higher  than  any  of  the 
people." 

If  only  this  boy,  this  baby  here,  might  grow  up 
to  stand  erect  like  Saul,  a  king  among  the  people! 
In  any  case  he  should  bear  the  name  of  the  king  of 
the  Tribe  of  the  Youngest  Son. 

"  We  will  call  him  '  Saul,'  "  said  the  father. 

25 


26  IN  TRAINING 

Saul  was  his  first  name,  the  name  his  father  and 
mother  would  use  at  home.  "  Saul  "  was  the  name 
they  spoke  to  the  priest  when  he  was  carried — a  baby 
only  eight  days  old — to  the  synagogue  where  the 
priest  took  a  knife  and  made  that  cut  which  all  Jewish 
baby  boys  were  to  bear  to  separate  them  from  the 
other  nations  on  the  earth. 

Through  the  little  window,  high  up  in  the  wall, 
which  let  the  sunlight  into  the  cool,  quiet  room  where 
the  mother  and  the  boy  lay,  the  sounds  of  the  city 
floated  in — the  slow  tinkle  of  the  bells  on  the  silent, 
passing  camels  which  had  come  down  the  pass  through 
the  mountains  to  Tarsus  and  were  carrying  their  loads 
down  to  the  harbour-quay;  the  hoarse  cry  of  the 
drivers;  the  quick,  light  steps  of  the  droves  of  laden 
donkeys,  .the  laughter  of  the  University  students  as 
they  strolled  down  to  the  gymnasium  by  the  river, 
the  clink  of  the  armour  of  the  passing  Roman  soldier. 

Saul's  father  did  not  need  that  last  sound  to  remind 
him  of  something  of  which  he  was  almost  as  proud 
as  he  was  of  his  own  sonship  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin ; 
that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  a  citizen,  especially,  of 
the  far-spreading  Roman  free  city  of  Tarsus.  His 
young  son,  who,  when  he  grew  up,  would  be  able  to 
say, 

"  Civis  Romanus  sum," 

must,  therefore,  have  a  Roman  as  well  as  a  Jewish 
name.    They  gave  him  for  his  Roman  name — "  Paul." 

While  the  baby  Saul  was  learning  to  walk,  another 


TRIBE  OF  THE  YOUNGEST  SON  27 

Jewish  Boy — far  away  southward  and  across  the  sea 
— was  growing  up  in  a  village  among  the  hills.  Bare- 
foot and  bareheaded,  with  a  linen  tunic  girdled  at  the 
waist,  He  ran  in  and  out  of  the  carpenter's  workshop 
where  Joseph  made  ploughs  and  yokes  for  the  oxen 
of  Nazareth.  And  He  trotted  alongside  His  mother 
as  she  walked  to  the  village  well,  balancing  the  earthen- 
ware water-pot  upon  her  head. 

Saul  of  Tarsus,  the  city-boy,  and  Jesus,  the  peasant's 
Son,  of  Nazareth,  were  as  different  from  one  another 
as  boys  could  be.  And,  so  far  as  we  can  know,  they 
never  met  one  another  before  the  death  of  Jesus.  Yet 
even  at  the  beginning  of  the  life  of  Saul  we  must  think 
of  Jesus.  For  a  day  was  to  be  when  the  coming  of 
Jesus  into  the  life  of  Saul  was  to  change  the  whole 
history  of  the  world. 


II 

THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER 

THE  dark-haired  boy,  Saul,  as  he  grew  up,  took 
in  with  his  swift  brain  and  quick  eyes  the 
wonderful  life  of  the  city  in  which  he  lived. 

Tarsus  stretched  across  a  great  plain,  through  which 
a  winding  river  ran,  from  dark,  snow-rimmed  moun- 
tains, down  to  the  shining  sea.  From  the  mountains 
of  Taurus^ — and  from  the  great  high  plain  up  behind 
the  mountains — long  caravans  of  dusty,  stealthy-footed 
camels  came  striding  down,  bearing  on  their  backs 
wool  and.  lead  and  silver  ore  and  many  other  things 
from  the  North  and  West.  From  the  lands  of  the 
rising  sun  other  camels  came,  bearing  silks  and  spices, 
and  led  by  dark,  swarthy  Arabs. 

Up  from  the  Great  Sea — as  they  called  the  Mediter- 
ranean— the  ships  sailed  into  the  lake-harbour,  bring- 
ing glass  from  Sidon  and  purple  cloths  from  Tyre, 
copper  from  the  island  of  Cyprus  and  marbles  from 
Italy  and  Greece.  On  the  ships  were  ruddy-faced 
men  from  the  West,  dark,  bronze-featured  sailors 
from  the  Nile,  and  skilful  seamen  of  Phoenician  blood 
from  the  Palestine  coast. 

Saul  would  see  these  things  in  company  with  other 
boys;  for  in  him  the  instinct  that  makes  boys  get 
together  in  groups  was  stronger  than  usual.  All 
through  his  life  he  was  very  eager  for  companionship. 

28 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       29 

Yet  sometimes  the  boys  would  quarrel,  we  may  be 
quite  sure ;  Saul  had  a  keen,  quick  temper  which  caught 
fire  swiftly  and  would  blaze  into  clean  anger.  But  we 
know  that  sullenness  was  a  thing  he  did  not  under- 
stand. Again  and  again  when  he  quarrelled  with 
another  he  soon  made  it  up  again. 

He  would  go  as  a  boy,  then — sometimes  with  other 
boys,  sometimes  with  his  father — in  and  out  among 
the  streets  of  Tarsus,  dodging  out  of  the  way 
of  the  swinging  camels  and  of  the  wide  horns  of 
the  black  buffaloes  dragging  their  lumbering  wagons 
along. 

Each  shop  along  the  streets  was  just  a  square  plat- 
form, closed  on  three  sides  and  open  at  the  front, 
where  the  cobbler  sat  sewing  the  shoes — red  or  black, 
just  as  you  wished — and  the  tall  moccasin-boots  which 
he  sold.  The  coppersmith  hammered  his  pans;  and 
the  silversmith,  working  his  tiny  bellows,  heated  the 
grey  silver  in  the  forge  and  tapped  it  on  his  little 
anvil.  The  saddle-maker  cut  and  sewed  his  leather 
trappings  for  the  horses  and  the  camels.  The  potter's 
hands  moulded  the  whirling  clay — this  piece  to  a  lovely 
vase,  that  to  a  common  household  pan — but  all  to  some 
use. 

The  click  and  swish  of  the  loom  as  the  weaver 
threw  the  shuttle  across  and  back  again  like  lightning 
held  Saul  most  of  all.  For  this  was  to  be  part  of  the 
trade  he,  himself,  was  to  learn. 

A  great  Jewish  rabbi  said, 

"  The  father  who  does  not  teach  his  son  a  trade 
makes  him  as  a  thief," 


80  IN  TRAINING 

and  another  teacher,  whose  words  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  declared, 

"  The  father  who  teaches  his  son  a  trade  makes  him 
like  a  vineyard  fenced  around." 

Whether  Saul's  father  was  rich  or  poor  he  would,  as 
a  good  Jew,  teach  his  boy  a  trade.  The  most  famous 
trade  in  all  Tarsus  was  making  the  tents  under  which 
the  wandering  shepherd-peoples  on  the  plain  and 
among  the  hills  could  shelter.  They  were  long,  low 
tents  supported  by  a  number  of  poles  and  with  the 
edges  of  the  canvas  held  to  the  ground  with  tent-pegs. 

Miles  away,  up  in  the  hills,  near  the  great  mountains, 
in  the  suburb  of  Tarsus,  where  Saul  and  his  sister 
and  mother  and  father  went  in  the  summer,  he  saw 
the  long-haired  goats  of  this  land  of  Cilicia.  The  hair 
of  these  goats  was  used  by  the  tent-makers  to  weave 
into  the  tent-cloth.  For  it  kept  the  rain  off  the  backs 
of  the  goats  and  therefore  was  good,  when  made  into 
thick  canvas,  for  keeping  the  rain  out  of  the  tent. 

Young  Saul  was  taught  how  to  make  the  tents ;  first 
he  learned  how  the  thread  was  spun  from  the  goat- 
hair,  then  how  these  threads  were  strung  from  beam  to 
beam  on  the  loom,  and  the  shuttles  were  shot  from 
side  to  side  till  the  threads  were  woven  into  a  cloth. 
After  that  the  pieces  of  cloth  were  sewn  tightly  to- 
gether to  make  one  great  canvas ;  and  twisted  goat-hair 
ropes  were  fixed  to  the  edges,  all  looped  ready  for  the 
tent-pegs. 

Faster  than  the  swiftest  weaver  in  all  Tarsus  could 
throw  his  shuttles  or  rattle  his  loom,  the  brain  of  the 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       31 

boy  Saul  worked.  He  saw  the  weaver  throwing  the 
different  coloured  threads — purple,  green,  and  yellow 
— across  his  cloth ;  and  Saul's  own  mind  had  three  dif- 
ferent threads  to  weave  into  the  wonderful  pattern 
of  his  mind.  As  the  coloured  threads  in  the  weaver's 
loom  flashed  to  and  fro  till  the  eye  could  not  follow, 
so  the  three  threads  of  this  boy's  life — Jewish,  Greek, 
and  Roman — crossed  and  re-crossed  till  they  were  all 
blended  in  one  wonderful  pattern  in  the  brain  of  this 
boy — the  mind  that  was  to  become  one  of  the  swiftest, 
most  daring,  and  yet  tenderest  that  have  ever  lived. 

I.     THE  THREAD  OF  THE  CENTURIES 

The  first  thread  was  the  rich  long  thread  of  the 
story  of  his  own  people.  It  glowed  through  his  mind 
like  a  lovely  purple  thread  in  a  king's  mantle,  woven 
on  the  loom  of  the  centuries. 

Saul  spun  the  thread  as  he  sat  in  the  dim  light  of 
the  synagogue,  and  saw  them  take  up  the  sacred  rolls 
and  opening  them  read  out  ofl  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets ;  and  as  he  squatted  on  the  sand-strewn  floor 
of  the  school  and  shouted  out  the  stories  he  had  learned 
from  memory.  But  most  of  all  this  thread  would 
come  from  the  story-times  at  home. 

Saul's  mother,  when  she  had  ground  the  corn  into 
meal  and  made  the  dough  for  the  thin  flat  loaves  of 
bread  which  she  baked  in  the  mud  oven,  and  as  she  sat 
spinning  while  they  waited  for  his  father  to  come  back 
from  the  market-place,  would  tell  him  the  stories  of  his 
nation.  They  were  tales  to  make  a  boy's  eyes  grow 
round  and  shining  with  wonder,  stories  to  make  him 


32  IN  TRAINING 

catch  his  breath  with  excitement  as  to  whether  the 
Shepherd  Boy  or  the  Giant  would  win  in  the  fight. 
Her  tales  were  his  picture-book — the  greatest  book  of 
adventure  in  the  world. 

Through  her  eyes,  Saul  saw  the  old  patriarchs  riding 
on  their  camels  along  the  horizon  of  the  old,  old  times 
and  pitching  their  low,  black  tents  by  the  side  of  the 
springs  of  water.  He  shivered  as  he  watched  the 
uplifted  knife  of  Abraham  ready  to  slay  his  son  Isaac, 
and  breathed  again  when  the  ram's  horns  were  caught 
in  the  thicket  and  the  boy  Isaac  was  free. 

He  heard  how  Rebekah  watered  the  thirsty  camels 
at  the  fountain  and  rode  under  the  blazing  sky  into  the 
land  to  meet  Isaac,  and  how  her  sons  Esau  and  Jacob 
quarrelled  and  were  friends  again.  He  could  see 
Jacob  terrified  because  the  coat  of  many  colours  be- 
longing to  his  favourite  son  Joseph  was  brought  to  him 
all  dabbled  with  blood;  when,  all  the  while,  young 
Joseph  had  been  thrown  into  a  pit  by  his  brothers. 
For  the  brothers  were  tired  of  his  dreams  of  being 
greater  than  they,  and  sold  him  to  the  slave-dealers; 
who  had  carried  him  off  with  their  camel  caravan  into 
Egypt. 

The  most  exciting  part  of  the  stories — young  Saul 
would  feel — began  where  the  tale  of  the  Father  of  his 
own  tribe  came — when  Benjamin,  the  youngest  son  of 
Jacob,  went  down  as  a  boy  to  Egypt.  There  all  the 
brothers  saw  Joseph,  but  did  not  know  him,  for  he 
had  become  the  greatest  man — next  to  Pharaoh — in  all 
the  land;  until  (unable  to  hold  himself  in  any  longer) 
Joseph  told  them  who  he  was. 

Saul's  hot  temper  would  flame  up  in  him,  and  his 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       33 

heart  would  go  throbbing  with  anger  when  he  heard 
how  the  Israelites — after  Joseph  died — were  lashed 
with  long-thonged  whips  by  the  cruel  Egyptian  task- 
masters under  a  new  Pharaoh.  But  his  eyes  sparkled 
again  as  he  saw  the  little  Moses,  first  hidden  as  a  baby 
in  the  bulrushes,  and  then  growing  up  to  lead  his 
own  people  out  of  Egypt  away  across  the  Red  Sea, 
with  the  chariots  of  Pharaoh  galloping  in  vain  behind 
them. 

The  story  of  those  days  in  the  desert  was  told  him 
and  the  long,  weary  wanderings  of  the  people  in  their 
tents,  till,  on  the  great  hills  over  Jordan,  they  looked 
across  and  saw  the  new  land  in  which  they  were  to 
live — the  land  from  which  young  Saul's  own  father 
and  mother  had  come. 

"  What  was  the  law  that  Moses  left  for  us  to 
obey?"  the  mother  would  ask,  and  the  boy  would 
repeat  the  words  that  every  Jewish  boy  learns  as  soon 
as  he  can  speak. 

"Hear,  O  Israel: 
The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord: 
And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord,  thy  God : 
With  all  thine  heart; 
And  with  all  thy  soul, 
And  with  all  thy  might." 

Saul  came  to  know  by  heart,  also,  how  Joshua  led 
them  all  across  Jordan  and  conquered  the  land,  how 
Samson  carried  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  and  smote  the 
Philistines,  and  how,  at  last,  blinded  and  chained,  he 
thrust  out  the  giant  pillars  and  hurled  the  great  house 
and  its  three  thousand  insolent  feasters  into  ruin. 

The  boy  Saul  would  enjoy  those  fierce  stories,  but 


34  IN  TRAINING 

his  mother  would  rather  tell  about  the  boy  in  the 
temple  who  waited  on  Eli,  and  she  would  very  much 
wish  that  her  boy  might  come  to  be  like  young  Samuel. 
We  can  well  believe  that  Saul  himself  would  prefer 
those  about  his  own  namesake,  whom  Samuel  had 
anointed  king.  Would  he  ever  grow  as  tall  as  that 
great  warrior-king  Saul  who  stood  head  and  shoulders 
above  the  others  and  led  all  the  people  in  the  great 
fights  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  hills  against  the 
Philistines? 

We  can  imagine  him  measuring  himself  against  the 
wall  to  see  whether  he  was  growing  tall,  and  then 
running  back  to  hear  how  David  killed  the  lion  and 
the  bear  and  the  giant  Goliath,  and,  after  Saul  died, 
became  king  in  Jerusalem. 

And  now  (young  Saul's  father  told  him)  Jerusalem 
and  all  the  land  was  under  the  hand  of  the  Romans. 
Their  old  country  did  not  belong  to  them.  But  One 
was  coming  (and  their  eyes  burned  like  gleaming  coals 
with  a  fire  of  hate  and  of  hope  as  they  said  it) — a  King 
— sent  by  God,  who  would  roll  back  all  the  enemies  of 
the  Jews — a  Leader  who  would  save  them.  They 
must  wait,  and  be  ready  when  the  hour  came — when 
He  the  Messiah  Prince  that  was  to  be  would  call  them 
out  to  fight. 

In  all  the  stories  and  every  day,  whether  walking 
with  his  father,  or  sitting  on  the  house-top  with  his 
mother,  or  listening  in  the  synagogue,  he  would  hear 
these  words, 

"  To  love  the  Lord  your  God 
And  to  serve  Him  with  all  your  heart, 
And  with  all  your  soul." 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       35 

They  were  written  on  parchment  and  put  in  little 
leather  cases  strapped  on  the  foreheads  of  the  men, 
and  on  the  arms  of  the  growing  boys,  and  were  writ- 
ten on  the  door-posts. 

On  the  fringe  of  Saul's  coat  was  a  cord  of  blue. 
If  any  Greek  boy  in  Tarsus  had  asked  him  why  it  was 
there  Saul  would  have  answered  at  once  from  memory : 

"  Put  upon  the  fringe  of  each  border  a  cord  of  blue: 
And  it  shall  be  unto  you  for  a  fringe, 
That  ye  may  look  upon  it, 

And  remember  all  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
And  do  them." 

This  great  invisible  God  could  not  be  shown  in  the 
likeness  of  an  image — a  statue  of  marble  like  those  in 
the  Greek  temple  which  Saul  passed  on  his  way  to 
school. 

Once  every  year  he  would  see  the  streets  of  Tarsus 
all  alive  with  crowds  waiting  for  a  great  procession 
to  pass.  If  he  was  allowed  to  watch  he  would  see 
a  great  canopy  over  the  image  of  a  god  who  was 
being  taken  to  be  burned — for  the  god  of  the  Tarsians 
was  burned  each  year  in  the  belief  that  he  would  come 
into  immortal  life  again  through  the  fire.  Saul  had 
been  taught  to  scorn  such  a  superstition  about  an  idol. 
When  he  ran  home  to  tell  his  father  about  the  gorgeous 
procession,  his  father  would  surely  frown  and  remind 
Saul  to  repeat  his 

"  Hear,  O  Israel.    The  Lord  thy  God  is  one  God." 

So  Saul  learned  that  all  the  great  kings  and  leaders, 
the  warriors  and  the  prophets,  Moses  and  Joshua, 
Samuel  and  Saul,  David  and  Solomon,  had  been  great 


36  IN  TRAINING 

and  powerful  only  when  they  obeyed  the  command- 
ments of  God.  And  when  the  story  of  the  downfall 
of  his  own  namesake  King  Saul  was  told  to  him  they 
would  say  simply,  "  He  disobeyed  God  and  God  re- 
jected him." 

So  the  boy  thought  of  God  as  One  and  Eternal  and 
All-Powerful,  very  just  and  stern  with  those  who 
disobeyed  Him ;  yet  merciful  to  those  who  were  sorry 
for  their  disobedience.  And  he  waited  for  the  new 
King  who  was  to  come  to  free  his  people.  And  he 
grew  to  be  very  keen  about  all  the  thousand  and  one 
special  religious  observances  that  made  the  Jews  feel 
themselves  to  be  the  people  of  God. 

This  was  the  first  and  longest  and  richest  thread 
that  flashed  to  and  fro  in  the  loom  of  Saul's  life,  and 
was  woven  into  the  woof  of  his  very  being.  But  it 
was  only  the  first. 

II.    THE  THREAD  OF  BEAUTY 

As  Saul  went  down  to  the  water's  edge  with  his 
companions  he  would  see  young  men  in  white  tunics 
and  sandals  mooring  their  boats  and  then  running 
up  wide  marble  steps.  At  the  top  they  joined  other 
youths  who  were  chatting  among  the  great  gleaming 
pillars,  some  of  them  rubbing  oil  into  their  glistening 
bare  bodies. 

From  within  came  the  sound  of  cheering,  the  pant- 
ing of  wrestlers  straining  to  throw  one  another,  the 
ring  of  the  thrown  javelin  on  the  pavement.  Then  a 
team  of  students  would  run  down  the  steps  and,  diving 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       37 

into  the  water,  race  one  another  in  a  swim  up-stream 
and  back  again. 

In  a  quieter  place  among  the  further  pillars  in  the 
shade,  a  group  had  settled  round  an  older  man.  Some 
stood,  leaning  against  the  white  pillars;  others  sat 
on  the  pavement.  Nearly  all  had  tablets  of  wax  in  the 
left  hand  and  an  ivory  style  in  the  right,  ready  to  put 
down  some  witty  saying  or  wise  idea  of  the  Greek 
tutor.  Then  they  would  argue — and  questions  and 
answers  would  fly  to  and  fro  more  swiftly  than  arrows 
in  a  battle. 

If  Saul  were  near  enough  to  hear  what  the  tutor 
was  saying  he  would  be  almost  sure  to  hear  the  words, 
"  Athenodorus  said,"  followed  by  some  great  maxim, 
which  the  students  would  quickly  scribble  down  on 
their  tablets.  Athenodorus  had  died  at  Tarsus  just 
about  the  time  when  Saul  was  born,  and  he  was  the 
most  wonderful  teacher  in  the  world  in  his  day.  In- 
deed, some  of  the  things  Saul  wrote  when  he  was  a 
man  are  so  similar  to  the  sayings  of  Athenodorus  that 
the  boy  Saul  may  have  learned  them  first  from  some 
pupil  of  Athenodorus  himself  in  Tarsus. 

Partly  because  of  Athenodorus  the  fame  of  this 
Tarsus  university  was  spreading  through  all  the 
Mediterranean.  And  Saul  would  be  able  to  talk  to  the 
students  of  the  University  because — although  he  spoke 
the  Aramaic  language  of  the  Hebrews  to  his  father 
and  mother  at  home,  and  his  strict  father  would  not 
like  him  to  mix  too  much  with  people  who  were  not 
Jews — yet  he  talked  Greek,  and  indeed,  even  read  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets  in  a  Greek  translation.^ 

*  A  translation  of  Old  Testament  called  the  Septuagint,  because 
(it  was  said)  seventy  men  helped  to  translate  it. 


38  IN  TRAINING 

Greek  was  the  language  in  which  men  of  different 
races  talked  to  one  another  in  Tarsus.  This  seems 
strange  to  us,  because  Tarsus  is  a  thousand  miles  from 
Greece.  But  as  many  as  two  thousand  years  before 
Saul  was  born,  Greek  sailors,  coming  along  the  coast 
all  the  way  from  the  yEgean  Sea,  had  sailed  up  the 
Cydnus  River  and  settled  at  Tarsus,  and  had  traded  in 
the  silver  and  lead  which  men  mined  in  the  moun- 
tains. Assyrian  armies  and  Persian  had  swept  across 
the  plain  from  the  East  and  had  conquered  Tarsus, 
but  still  the  Greeks  remained  there. 

When  Saul  went  with  his  father  to  buy  a  new  pair 
of  sandals  the  money  which  he  gave  to  the  cobbler 
had  Greek  letters  all  round  it. 

Saul  would  be  told  as  a  boy  by  the  Tarsians,  who 
were  very  proud  of  the  history  of  their  city,  that  over 
three  hundred  years  before  young  Alexander  the  Great, 
the  Greek  Emperor,  had  covered  the  plain  and  filled 
the  city  with  his  great  armies.  He  had  nearly  killed 
himself  in  this  very  river  by  leaping  in  all  hot  when 
the  water  was  bitterly  cold  with  the  melted  snow  from 
the  white  Taurus  mountains. 

The  Greeks  carved  beautiful  statues  which  Saul's 
father  would  hate  because  a  good  Jew  would  think  of 
them  as  idols.  They  also  went  into  training  for  sports, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  training  their  brains  to  be 
swift  and  agile.  The  Jews  trained  their  boys  to  glory 
in  the  past  rather  than  think  out  new  ideas,  and  to 
think  more  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  than  of  the  body 
and  mind.  The  Greeks  taught  their  boys  to  think  new 
thoughts,  and  they  liked  quickness  of  mind  and  witty 
speaking  better  than  a  wonderful  memory  or  deep, 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER       39 

wise,  old  proverbs.  The  wonder  of  Saul  was  that 
he  remembered  the  old  like  a  Jew,  but  created  new 
and  adventurous  thoughts  more  swiftly  than  even  the 
Greek. 

Sitting  there  at  the  water's  edge,  Saul  would  spy, 
among  the  boats  sailing  up  and  down  the  broad  river, 
some  with  strange  figures  painted  on  them — sometimes 
a  Ram,  or  a  pair  of  Scales,  or  the  Sun  God  Apollo. 
These  he  knew  were  Greek  boats  painted  with  signs  to 
bring  the  sailors  good  luck.  His  brooding  eyes  would 
follow  the  boat  as  it  sailed  down  under  the  evening 
breeze.  His  adventurous  mind  would  sail  leagues 
beyond  the  boat  to  the  islands  and  mountains  from 
which  the  Greeks  came;  where  temples  were  reflected 
in  the  sea. 

But  the  boy  Saul  on  the  river  bank  would  not 
imagine  that,  just  because  he  knew  the  Greek  language, 
he  would  some  day  be  able  to  make  wonderful  journeys 
such  as  no  man  of  his  race  had  ever  taken  before,  and 
not  only  to  speak  so  that  the  people  of  that  day  in 
scores  of  cities  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome  might  hear 
him,  but  to  write  so  that  we  and  millions  of  others 
to-day  and  in  all  the  days  to  come  can  share  his  won- 
derful story  and  listen  to  his  great  secret. 

The  lovely  Greek  thread  was  woven  to  and  fro  in 
the  pattern  of  Saul's  mind.  It  gleamed  like  gold,  as  it 
lay  intertwined  with  the  rich  thread  of  the  story  of  his 
own  Jewish  people.  There  was  a  third  thread — not 
so  beautiful  as  these,  but  very  strong — the  imperial 
thread  of  Rome. 


40  IN  TRAINING 

III.    THE  THREAD  OF  EMPIRE 

**  When  I  was  a  boy,"  one  of  the  oldest  sailors  on 
the  quay  at  Tarsus  would  begin — and  we  can  imagine 
the  boy  Saul  with  others  standing  round  waiting  for 
the  yarn. 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,  and  Mark  Antony,  the  Roman 
ruler,  lived  up  yonder  at  the  palace,  the  Queen  of 
Egypt  came  to  Tarsus  through  the  harbour  here. 
Never  was  such  a  ship  in  all  the  world.  The  barge 
she  sat  in  seemed  to  burn  on  the  water.  The  poop  was 
covered  with  beaten  gold,  and  the  oars  were  shining 
silver  that  flashed  as  they  dipped  and  rose  in  the  river, 
keeping  time  to  the  playing  of  flutes.  The  sails  were 
purple.  And  on  the  deck  on  a  couch  lay  Cleopatra  the 
Queen,  with  boys  standing  by  fanning  her,  and  with 
maids  in  attendance. 

"  You  could  not  see  the  harbour  here  for  people. 
Everyone  in  Tarsus  came  out.  The  house-tops,  the 
quays,  and  the  boats  all  were  covered  with  them." 

We  can  imagine  that  one  of  the  boys  fresh  from 
school  would  ask: 

"  Do  the  Romans  rule  in  Egypt  where  Cleopatra 
came  from  as  they  do  here  ?  " 

And  many  a  sailor  in  Tarsus  harbour  would  be 
able  to  say : 

"  Yes,  I  have  sailed  for  many  a  year  up  and  down 
the  Great  Sea  and  never  have  I  dropped  anchor  where 
the  Romans  do  not  rule.  I  have  sailed  from  here 
down  the  Syrian  coast,  to  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  Csesarea, 
and  across  there  to  Cyprus;  right  away  down  to 
Alexandria    in    Egypt,    where    the    great    corn-ships 


THE  LOOM  OF  THE  TENT-MAKER        41 

anchor,  and  across  from  the  Nile  to  Syracuse  in  Sicily. 
I  have  sailed  from  Brundisium  ^  up  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth  and  seen  my  ship  dragged  across  the  rollers 
to  drop  again  into  the  gulf  that  leads  to  Athens.  From 
Athens  I  have  sailed  to  Ephesus  and  round  the  coast 
to  Rhodes  and  back  to  Tarsus.  And  everywhere — 
everywhere  you  sec  the  power  of  Rome  ruling." 

And  then  the  old  sailor  would  not  have  told  all,  for 
he  would  not  know  that,  when  the  great  general  Julius 
Ccesar  sailed  for  Tarsus,  nearly  half  a  century  before 
Paul  was  born,  he  had  already  begun  the  conquest  of 
a  savage  island  called  Britain,  in  the  North  Sea  far 
beyond  the  Alps. 

Saul,  as  he  went  back  home,  would  pass  the  many- 
pillared  porticoes  of  stately  Roman  temples.  As  he 
got  into  the  heart  of  the  city  again,  he  might  see  the 
road  swiftly  cleared  at  the  sound  of  the  wild  clatter 
of  horses'  hoofs  on  the  paved  way.  As  the  panting 
beasts,  flecked  with  white  sweat,  swept  by  on  the  last 
mile  of  their  long  gallop  down  from  the  mountains, 
he  would  know  that  this  was  the  Roman  post  that  had 
sped,  by  relay  after  relay  of  horses,  right  across  Asia 
Minor  bearing  the  Emperor's  commands. 

Three  words  would  spring  to  his  lips,  "  Civis 
Romanus  sum  " — "  I  am  a  Roman  citizen — free  born." 
And  with  that  thought — though  he  knew  how  many 
of  his  fellow-Jews  loathed  the  Roman  rule — there 
would  come  the  broadening  feeling  of  possession  in 
that  Empire,  which  had  made  the  Great  Sea  its  Lake. 

It  was  the  third  thread  in  Saul's  life — the  strong 
rough  thread  of  the  Roman  imperium. 

*  Brindisi. 


42  IN  TRAINING 

So  the  three  threads  were  woven  into  the  pattern 
of  a  boy's  mind — the  boy  Saul  who  could  say — speak- 
ing in  the  language  of  Greece, 

"  I  am  a  Jew  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
A  native  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia, 
A  citizen  of  no  mean  city. 
I  am  a  Roman  born." 

He  was  a  citizen  of  the  world. 


Ill 

ON    THE    CARAVAN    ROAD 

ONE  day,  as  he  stood  on  the  roof-top  at  home 
in  Tarsus,  Saul  would  hear  the  quick  steps  of 
asses  coming  along  the  street.  The  sound 
suddenly  ceased  in  front  of  the  house.  Leaning  over 
the  parapet,  he  could  see,  in  the  swiftly  fading  evening 
light,  tired  travellers  alighting.  His  father  was 
eagerly  welcoming  them  to  enter  the  house.  The  foot- 
weary,  dusty  asses  were  being  led  away  to  the  stable. 

Saul  knew  what  it  meant.  The  days  of  the  seeking 
of  a  new  life  were  upon  him,  the  hour  when  any  boy 
is  very  glad  and  more  than  a  little  afraid. 

Year  after  year  pilgrims  from  the  cities  of  the  high 
plateau  beyond  the  mountains,  as  surely  as  the  sun 
would  set  behind  Taurus,  claimed  the  hospitality  of  a 
Jew  so  full  of  zeal  for  the  nation  as  Saul's  father. 
They  were  on  their  way  south  through  Tarsus,  seek- 
ing the  Feast  at  Jerusalem.  Over  supper,  while  the 
student  Saul  nodded  and  roused  himself  between 
sleepiness  and  eager  inquisitiveness,  they  would  tell 
of  the  Roman  cities  up  beyond  the  mountains — Lystra, 
Iconium,  and  Antioch;  and  of  wild  life  among  the 
hills  on  the  way  to  Tarsus.  He  would  hear  tell  of 
robbers  who  lurked  among  the  grey  crags  and  sprang 
out  on  the  traveller  as  he  passed  through  the  ravine; 

43 


44  IN  TRAINING 

and  how  the  Roman  soldiers  were  trying  to  dislodge 
them  from  their  fastnesses  among  the  rocks. 

Saul  had,  in  the  years  that  had  gone,  often  said 
"  Good-bye  "  to  his  father,  who  would  sometimes  go 
with  these  pilgrims  down  to  the  Feast  at  Jerusalem. 
The  father  would  come  back  to  Tarsus,  weeks  later, 
with  wonderful  stories  of  the  people  gathered  from  all 
over  the  world  in  the  crowded  Temple  courts  at  Jerusa- 
lem, of  the  flowing  robes  of  the  bare-footed  priests,  the 
bleating  of  the  thousands  of  lambs  brought  for  sacri- 
fice, the  smoke  curling  up  from  the  altars,  the  harsh 
clash'of  cymbals,  the  sounding  of  the  brass  trumpets. 

Saul  would  ask  many  questions  about  the  great 
"  public-school  "  among  the  cloisters  and  courts  of  the 
Temple,  where  the  masters  sat,  with  their  students 
in  a  circle  round  them,  teaching  and  discussing  the 
Law  of  Moses.  For  Saul  already  was  an  ambitious, 
swift-minded  student.  His  brain  absorbed  everything 
that  was  about  him.  At  school  in  Tarsus  he  was  a 
keen  boy,  who  leapt  ahead  of  many  of  his  class-mates. 
When  he  was  old,  indeed,  the  thing  he  remembered 
most  clearly  about  his  youth  was 

"  I  advanced  in  the  Jews'  religion  beyond  many  of 
mine  own  age  among  my  race,  being  exceed- 
ingly zealous  for  the  traditions  of  my  fathers." 

His  father  then  would  have  to  tell  the  boy  all  about 
the  incidents  that  happened  in  the  Temple.  It  may 
well  be  that  one  day,  when  Saul's  father  was  at  the 
Temple  after  Passover,  his  eyes  fell  upon  another  Boy, 
a  little  older  (he  would  note)  than  his  own  Saul — a 


ON  THE  CARAVAN  ROAD  45 

Jewish  twelve-year-old  peasant  from  Nazareth.  This 
young  peasant  was  sitting  in  one  of  those  circles  of 
students  in  front  of  the  Rabbis  (the  teachers)  after 
the  feast-days, 

"  both  hearing  them  and  asking  them  questions :  and 
all  that  heard  Him  were  amazed  at  His  under- 
standing and  His  answers." 

It  is  quite  possible  that,  if  Saul's  father  noticed  this 
Boy  asking  questions,  he  would  think  how  clever  He 
was ;  but  he  would  not  be  likely  to  admit  that  this  Jesus 
was  a  finer  son  than  his  own  Saul  at  home  in  Tarsus. 
It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  the  father  would  listen 
very  carefully  to  the  greatest  of  these  Temple  teachers, 
the  headmaster,  whose  name  was  Gamaliel — Gamaliel 
the  learned  and  grave,  the  gentle  and  firm — the  grand- 
son of  old  Hillel  the  kind.  And  when  he  reached 
Tarsus  again,  he  would  tell  them  all  about  this  wonder- 
ful headmaster  till  Saul,  the  student,  now  grown  up 
into  his  'teens,  would  feel  that  the  greatest  thing  in  the 
world  would  be  to  go  from  Tarsus  to  Jerusalem  to 
Gamaliel,  and 

"  Powder  himself  in  the  dust  at  his  feet, 
And  drink  in  his  words  with  thirstiness." 

Like  a  young  bird,  just  feeling  the  strength  of  its 
newly-fledged  wings,  Saul  longed  for  a  wider  flight 
for  his  mind — some  task  greater,  more  difficult  than 
the  Jewish  School  at  Tarsus  could  give  to  him. 

Now,  as  the  pilgrims  visited  his  house,  the  hour  had 
really  come  when  Saul  was  to  go  up  to  the  Feast  at 


46  IN  TRAINING 

Jerusalem.  His  dark  face  would  flush  with  eagerness 
as  he  stood  on  the  roof-top  at  Tarsus  that  evening 
and  looked  away  south  and  east  toward  the  land  of  his 
fathers  and  toward  Jerusalem — away  to  the  Great  Sea, 
ten  miles  away,  where  it  caught  the  glow  of  the  sunset. 
The  curious  aching  desire,  half  joy  and  half  pain,  that 
comes  to  us  when  at  last  we  are  to  range  in  the  wider 
world,  would  grip  him  now. 

For  in  a  few  hours  he  was  to  start  out  with  his 
father  and  the  other  pilgrims — to  leave  home,  and  see 
that  wonderful  Temple  which  Herod  had  built  at 
Jerusalem,  with  its  gleaming  marble  and  gold  that 
glittered  in  the  sun — "  A  mountain  of  snow,"  they 
called  it.  And  as  Saul,  after  making  his  evening 
prayer  toward  Jerusalem,  took  his  last  look  across  the 
plain  before  going  down  into  the  house,  he  would  see 
the  lengthening  purple  shadows  of  the  mountains 
stretching  across  the  Cilician  plain,  and  the  last  rays 
of  the  sun  lighting  up  with  gold  "  the  mountain  of 
snow  "  of  the  Taurus — a  Temple  "  not  made  with 
hands." 

Indoors  his  mother  would  be  very  busy  folding  the 
clothes  which  she  had  been  making  through  the  past 
weeks — the  tunics  and  girdles,  and  especially  the  warm 
cloaks.  Jerusalem  was  high  up  on  the  hills,  and  her 
son  would  need  warmer  clothes  there  in  the  winter 
than  he  did  at  home  on  the  plain  in  Tarsus.  Her  son 
was  going  to  the  great  public-school  of  his  nation  in 
Jerusalem.  And  he  must  have  the  clothes  suitable. 
So  she  would  count  them  and  fold  them — and,  although 
she  would  be  very  proud  and  glad  that  her  Saul  was 
going  out  to  take  his  place  in  the  larger  world,  we 


ON  THE  CARAVAN  ROAD  47 

can  believe  that  sometimes  she  would  hardly  be  able 
to  tell  a  tunic  from  a  cloak  for  the  dimness  of  her  eyes. 

Saul's  father  would  be  made  of  harder  stuff.  He 
belonged  to  the  strictest  of  the  strict  Jews,  the  sect 
called  the  Pharisees — the  Separatists  who  held  them- 
selves quite  aloof  from  those  who  did  not  keep  the 
Law  very  carefully.  It  would  make  the  father  very 
proud  and  happy  that  his  son  was  so  clever  in  learning 
this  Law  and  in  discussing  it,  and  so  eager  to  keep  it. 

The  leave-taking  over,  the  pilgrim-student  would 
quickly  forget  the  wrench  of  going  from  home  in  his 
eager  enjoyment  of  his  first  journey.  We  cannot  tell 
which  way  they  travelled.  They  might  go  eastward 
by  land  to  Syria,  walking  round  the  end  of  the  gulf; 
but  far  more  probably  they  would  take  the  quicker 
sea-route  from  the  lake-harbour  below  Tarsus  to 
Csesarea  on  the  coast  of  Palestine. 

Whether  they  went  by  sea  or  by  land  they  would  at 
last  come  out  on  to  the  long-winding  caravan  road, 
climbing  among  the  hills  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem.  It 
was  spring-time,  and  the  fields  were  all  dancing  with 
nodding  anemones,  from  flaming  red  to  delicate  helio- 
trope. 

Up  the  long  road  could  be  seen  the  dusty  pilgrims 
from  many  countries,  all  with  their  faces  turned 
toward  Jerusalem.  Some  rode  on  stately  camels  and 
others  on  ambling  asses,  like  dignity  travelling  with 
impudence.  There  the  old,  old  Rabbi  with  dreamy 
face,  who  had  travelled  the  road  fifty  times,  nodding 
asleep,  insecurely  astride  his  overloaded  donkey. 
Running  alongside  him  were  dark-haired,  eager-eyed 
Jewish  boys  coming  up  for  the  first  time,  full  of  mis- 


48  IN  TRAINING 

chief.  A  young  mother,  sitting  behind  all  the  family 
belongings  balanced  across  the  donkey's  back,  carried 
her  baby  up  to  Jerusalem,  while  the  father  walked 
beside  them.  Men  from  Cyprus  and  from  Antioch, 
from  far-off  Greece,  and  even  from  Rome,  were  all 
on  the  road  looking  forward  to  the  vision  of  the  City 
set  on  the  hill. 

As  the  sun  dropped  near  to  the  horizon  everyone 
would  be  walking  more  slowly,  for  they  were  all  very 
tired.  At  last  the  well  where  they  could  water  the 
beasts  and  by  which  they  could  camp  came  in  sight, 
and  the  camels  and  donkeys,  sniffing  the  water,  quick- 
ened their  pace.  Some  slept  in  the  inn  by  the  well. 
But  most  of  them  would  sleep  out.  Rough  huts  were 
swiftly  made  with  branches  for  the  women;  while 
the  boys  searched  round  for  twigs  and  roots,  broken 
olive  branches,  and  quickly-burning  shrubs  to  start 
the  camp  fire. 

Saul  would  almost  fall  asleep  as  he  ate  his  crushed 
dates  and  raisins  by  the  flickering  fire.  His  evening 
prayer  was  soon  made.  Then  he  lay  on  the  ground 
under  the  open  sky.  Nor  would  the  melancholy  howl- 
ing of  jackals  echoing  among  the  hills  keep  his  tired 
eyes  open. 

The  first  glimmer  of  sunshine  saw  them  on  the 
road  again  in  the  cool  of  the  morning.  All  day  they 
trudged  along,  till  at  last,  coming  round  the  shoulder 
of  a  hill,  they  stopped  to  gaze.  Saul's  mind  would 
fill  with  wonder.  There,  across  the  valley,  more 
beautiful  than  an  earthly  palace  (as  it  seemed  to  his 
excited  mind),  blazed  the  roof  and  walls  of  the  Temple 
itself.    All  round  was  the  majesty  of  Roman  strength; 


CAAIl'IXG  FOR  THE  NIGHT  ON  THE  WAV  TO  JERUSALE 


M 


ON  THE  CARAVAN  ROAD  4d 

the  garrison-citadel  with  Antony's  tower,  the  wonder- 
ful palace  of  Herod  and  its  lovely  gardens  kept  green 
with  water  brought  on  the  long  aqueduct  from  a  spring 
near  Bethlehem,  the  great  circle  of  the  Roman  theatre, 
the  gymnasium  astride  the  Tyropsean  valley.  Not 
these,  but  the  Temple,  the  goal  and  centre  of  the 
life  of  the  whole  Jewish  race,  held  Saul's  eyes. 

Tired  though  they  were  they  would  press  patiently 
on,  going  down  across  the  glen  of  the  brook,  up  again 
and  under  the  gateway  through  the  wall  into  Jerusalem. 

The  next  morning  would  find  them  going  through 
the  streets  down  past  the  Roman  garrison-tower. 
There  they  found  themselves  jostled  and  elbowed  by 
the  many-coloured,  ever-moving  crowds  of  people 
from  all  the  lands  of  the  Mediterranean,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  and  the  Tiber,  the  Orontes  and  the 
Euphrates,  from  the  cities  and  the  islands  of  the 
^gean  Sea,  the  mountain-valleys  of  Greece  and  the 
deserts  and  plateaux  of  Persia. 

Turning  to  the  right  under  the  great  gateway  of 
the  Temple  they  took  off  their  sandals  from  their  feet, 
"  for  it  was  holy  ground,"  and  gave  their  freewill 
offering  into  the  Treasury.  They  waited  while  the 
spotless  lamb  of  sacrifice  was  slain  for  them  by  the 
priest.  Then  Saul  and  his  father  and  the  others  in 
their  party  went  away.  And  in  the  evening  they  would 
go  to  an  upper  room  to  the  supper,  perhaps  in  the 
house  of  Saul's  elder  sister  and  her  husband. 

At  supper  the  lamb  was  eaten  as  a  sign  that  life  is 
saved  at  the  cost  of  life.  They  also  ate  bitter  herbs 
to  bring  back  to  their  minds  how  bitter  their  fore- 
fathers' slavery  in  Egypt  had  been  in  the  days  of  old; 


60  IN  TRAINING 

and  took  a  paste  made  of  crushed  fruit  and  vinegar  to 
recall  the  clay  with  which  their  fathers  had  made 
bricks  under  Pharaoh.  So  they  celebrated  the  Supper 
of  the  Passover  in  Jerusalem. 

When  they  had  ended  that  supper,  which  is  itself 
(as  we  have  seen)  a  story  of  God  leading  His  people 
out  of  slavery  over  sea  and  desert  into  a  new  land,  the 
boy  Saul,  lonely,  far  away  from  home,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  his  life  in  this  new  great  school,  would, 
in  the  moments  between  lying  down  and  falling  asleep, 
reach  out  a  hand  into  the  darkness  feeling  after  the 
hand  of  God,  if  haply  he  might  find  it.  And,  indeed, 
he  had  great  need  of  that  Hand;  for  the  casement 
of  his  life  was 

"opening  on  the  foam 
Of  perilous  seas." 


IV 

THE    GOLDEN    AGE 

AS  he  walked  down  to  the  Temple  in  the  cool  of 
the  morning,   Saul  passed  along  streets  lined 
with  shops.    Dates  and  figs,  oranges  and  olives 
were  there;  coloured   cloths   and   silks,   sandals  and 
shoes.     The  letter-writer   sat   in   his  shaded  corner. 
Donkeys  tripped  by,  bearing  skins  full  of  water. 

These  things  would  not  hold  Saul,  nor  make  him 
loiter.  They  were  not  so  strange  to  a  boy  from  Roman 
Tarsus,  with  its  busy  market,  as  they  were  to  the 
peasant-boys  from  villages  like  Nazareth,  or  even 
to  the  fisher-youths  from  Bethsaida  and  Capernaum 
on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee. 

Nor  would  the  dark  green  of  the  olives  on  the  grey 
Mount  across  the  brook  Kidron  and  the  light  green  of 
the  new  shoots  of  the  vines  that  made  such  a  bright 
freshness  on  the  old  earth  draw  him  out  into  the 
country  round  about  Jerusalem ;  for  he  was  a  city-boy. 

Saul's  heart  and  soul  and  all  his  senses  were  fasci- 
nated by  the  life  of  that  wonderful  building  which 
was  the  centre  of  the  world  to  him — his  school  and 
college  and  cathedral;  his  Rugby,  his  Oxford,  his 
Westminster  Abbey  in  one — the  Temple.  Out  of  the 
stored-up  words  that  he  had  learned  by  heart,  whole 
songs  would  come  rushing  in  on  his  memory,  like  the 
one  beginning, 

61 


62  IN  TRAINING 

"  I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me, 
Let  us  go  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
Our  feet  are  standing 
Within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem." 

As  he  threaded  his  way  through  the  crowds — jostled 
by  togaed  Romans  and  sandalled  Greeks,  scanned  by 
copper-featured  men  from  Egypt  and  bronzed  travel- 
lers from  the  island  of  Crete ;  passing  mysterious  silent 
Arabs  and  slow-paced  travellers  from  across  the 
Euphrates;  meeting  men  from  Asia  Minor  (from  the 
Pamphylian  coast  and  the  high  tableland  of  Phrygia), 
he  would  remember  the  great  preacher  who  foretold, 

"  Many  nations  shall  go  and  say, 
Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord, 
And  to  the  House  of  the  God  of  Israel; 
And  He  will  teach  us  of  His  ways. 
And  we  will  walk  in  His  paths. 
For  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  instruction, 
And  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 

"Many  nations  ..."  Here  they  were  threading 
their  way  to  and  fro  in  these  very  streets.  But  sud- 
denly, when  he  had  crossed  the  outer  pavement  and 
gone  toward  the  marble  steps,  he  saw  before  him  a 
slab  of  stone  and  in  it  were  cut  in  bold  Greek  letters 
which  he  could  read, 


LET  NO  FOREIGNER  ENTER  WITHIN 
THE  SCREEN  AND  ENCLOSURE  SUR- 
ROUNDING THE  SANCTUARY.  WHOSO- 
EVER IS  TAKEN  SO  DOING  WILL  HIM- 
SELF BE  THE  CAUSE  THAT  DEATH 
OVERTAKETH  HIM. 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE  53 

"  Many  nations  shall  .  .  .  go  to  the  House  of  the 
God  of  Israel,"  the  word  had  said,  but  here  was  a 
notice  forbidding  the  nations  to  enter,  threatening 
death  to  any  foreigner  who  did  so.  Saul  would  re- 
member that  only  the  Jews  (or  the  men  of  other  na- 
tions who  had  become  what  are  called  "  proselyte 
Jews  "  by  being  circumcised)  might  come  in  here.  All 
other  men  were  exiles  for  ever  from  the  central  place 
where  the  Jews  believed  God  was  dwelling. 

So  Saul,  the  young  Pharisee,  proudly  passed  the 
stone  of  forbidding,  and  went  up  the  steps  into  the 
outer  court.  He  crossed  the  cool  pavement  which  the 
sun  had  not  yet  warmed,  passed  between  the  pillars, 
under  a  gateway  with  gates  of  gold  and  silver,  into 
the  inner  court  of  the  men.  A  wavering  column  of 
smoke  lifted  slowly  from  the  fire  that  burned  perpetu- 
ally on  the  altar  of  unhewn  stone;  and  behind  and 
beyond  the  smoke,  up  more  steps,  was  the  Holy  Place, 
behind  which  was  hidden  the  Holy  of  Holies.  A  shin- 
ing golden  roof  was  there,  borne  on  pure  marble 
pillars;  and  the  sacred  curtain  over  the  golden  door 
hid  the  holy  place  itself  from  his  wondering,  awe- 
struck gaze. 

Turning  to  the  side,  Saul  would  see,  under  the  cool, 
blue  shadows  of  the  cloisters,  groups  gathered  round 
teachers ;  some  arguing,  others  listening,  while  a  white- 
bearded  sage  with  dreaming  eyes  expounded  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets.  Finding  the  place  where  Gamaliel 
sat,  he  would  naturally  go  there.  Leaning  against  one 
of  the  pillars,  he  could  rest  his  hot  cheek  against  the 
cool  marble  and  listen  to  the  teaching  of  the  finest 
Pharisee  of  his  day. 


54  IN  TRAINING 

"  The  mind  of  the  student  must  be  Hke  a  cistern 
lined  with  cement.  It  must  hold  every  drop  of  knowl- 
edge that  enters  in,  losing  nothing,"  said  Gamaliel. 

Saul  already  knew  that  the  water  in  Jerusalem  was 
stored  in  enormous  cisterns  when  the  rains  fell,  and 
that  the  people  would  die  of  thirst  if  the  cisterns  were 
to  break  or  leak. 

The  ideal  of  the  student,  said  his  teacher,  was  to 
hold  the  pure  water  of  the  wisdom  of  the  past. 

That  was  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Jewish  schooling.  The  Jew  could 
hold  ideas  like  a  cistern ;  he  was  able  to  remember  the 
old,  but  rarely  to  make  new  ideas.  When  he  argued 
it  was  usually  by  hurling  quotations  at  his  opponent 
and  not — as  a  Greek  would  argue — by  a  closely 
reasoned  line  of  fresh  thought.  The  great  teachers 
of  the  Jews  were  men  like  Gamaliel,  who  said,  "  Thus 
spoke  Moses  " ;  not  original  thinkers  like  Plato  and 
Aristotle.  But  if  they  could  not  reason  wonderful 
philosophies,  they  could  see  marvellous  visions  of  the 
future — more  beautiful  than  anything  we  have  ever 
yet  reached  in  practice — of  a  time  when  men  would 

"  Beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares, 
And  their  spears  into  prunning-hooks : 
Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
Neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 

The  Pharisees'  great  aim  was  to  know  and  obey  all 
the  Law;  for  they  believed  that,  if  one  man  obeyed 
the  whole  Law  for  a  whole  day,  the  Messiah  who  was 
to  bring  in  the  Golden  Age  of  freedom  and  peace 
would  arrive.    So  they  laid  down  all  sorts  of  astonish- 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE  55 

ing  details  as  to  exactly  how  the  Jew  should  wash  and 
keep  the  Sabbath,  with  endless  arguments  as  to  what 
was  work  and  what  was  not.  This  was  called  the 
Spoken  Law  (or  Torah),  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
written  law  of  Moses. 

Just  as  he  had  seen  students  writing  with  an  ivory 
style  on  a  wax  tablet,  so  Saul  wrote  on  his  memory 
the  weary  details  of  the  Law. 

"  You  may  lean  a  ladder  from  one  window  of  a 
dovecote  to  another  on  the  Sabbath,"  Saul  would  hear; 
"  but  you  may  not  move  the  foot  of  it." 

"  You  may  tap  the  ground  with  your  foot,  but 
not  rub  your  sandal  along  the  earth — for  that  would 
be  ploughing.  You  must  not  pluck  an  ear  of  corn 
or  rub  the  corn  out  of  it  with  your  hands;  for  you 
would  be  guilty  of  reaping  and  threshing;  nor  must 
you  light  a  fire  on  the  Sabbath." 

He  learned  how  to  stand  and  how  to  bow  when 
praying,  how  to  wash  his  hands,  how  many  steps  he 
might  walk  on  the  Sabbath,  and  a  thousand  other 
things. 

Yet  Gamaliel,  his  master,  was  a  man  who  loved  the 
richer  thoughts  from  the  great  teachers  of  the  past. 
Sometimes,  like  a  great  light  in  a  dark  place,  one  of 
these  beautiful  words  would  come  out  and  Saul's  whole 
spirit  would  leap  up  when  he  heard  Gamaliel  say : 

"  Thus  said  Hillel :  '  What  is  hateful  to  yourself 
do  not  to  your  fellow-men — this  is  the  whole  Law — 
the  rest  is  only  explanation.    Go,  study ! '  " 

Starting  out  from  the  Temple  in  the  evening  Saul 
would  pass  by  the  Roman  citadel. 


56  IN  TRAINING 

"Quo  vadis?";  the  challenge  from  the  man  on 
sentry-go  to  a  skulking  figure  at  the  garrison-gate,  the 
clank  of  sword  and  buckler,  the  rattle  of  chains  of  the 
cavalry  horses  and  the  stamp  of  their  restless  hoofs  in 
the  stables,  the  flare  of  a  torch — all  would  startle  the 
brooding  student  out  of  his  thoughts  of  the  Law. 

The  Roman  citadel  loomed  above  him.  Silhouetted 
against  the  sky  was  the  high  watch-tower — Antony's 
tower  they  called  it  (he  would  remember),  after  the 
Mark  Antony,  the  Roman  ruler,  who  entertained  Cle- 
opatra years  ago  at  Tarsus.  Rome !  The  word  would 
send  a  strangely  mingled  feeling  through  him.  Saul 
was  a  Roman  citizen.  But  his  swift  arteries  pulsed 
with  the  passionate  blood  of  a  Jew. 

Rome  had  made  the  throne  of  this  young  student's 
great  forefather  and  namesake,  Saul,  an  empty  thing. 
Here  in  Jerusalem,  where  David  once  led  his  soldiers 
out  over  the  hills  to  destroy  the  enemies  of  his  people, 
Rome  now  ruled  with  sword  and  lash  and  cross.  The 
judgment-seat,  where  Solomon  once  sat  to  give  his 
decrees,  was  now  filled  by  a  proud  Roman,  who  cared 
mainly  for  his  chances  of  promotion  from  Rome  and 
his  bribes  from  the  rich  in  Jerusalem.  If  they  dared 
to  lift  a  hand  to  strike  for  freedom,  the  Jews  were 
crucified — so  Saul  had  learned  in  the  evenings  when 
the  students  got  together  and  talked  the  gossip  of  the 
city.  Saul's  heart  thumped  with  anger  within  him  as 
he  went  through  the  streets  in  the  evening. 

Yet  Saul  the  Jew  was,  also,  Paul  the  Roman  citizen. 

In  the  morning,  as  he  went  down  again  to  the 
Temple,  he  would  feel  that  he  would  give  his  very  life 
to  bring  in  the  New  Age  when  the  Messiah  would  rule 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE  67 

in  the  City  of  David  again.  Would  there  ever  be  a 
King  of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem? 

Then,  as  he  sat  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel  for  the 
morning  lesson,  he  would  look  up  with  a  startled  joy 
as  he  heard  the  old  man's  voice  shaking  with  the  same 
longing  that  he  himself  felt.  From  the  tremulous  lips 
of  the  teacher  would  come  the  lava  of  the  volcanic 
fires  of  patriotism  in  the  words  of  the  song  of  the 
Golden  Age  and  of  the  coming  of  the  new  King,  writ- 
ten over  a  hundred  years  before  by  a  fervid  Pharisee. 

The  words  focussed  all  the  burning  rays  of  Saul's 
desire  till  they  scorched  the  very  soul  of  the  student. 

"  O  Lord,  raise  up  for  them  their  King,  the  son  of  David. 
He  shall  bring  glory  to  the  Lord 
In  a  place  which  all  the  world  shall  see. 

He  shall  sweep  clean  Jerusalem  and  make  it  holy 

As  it  was  in  the  olden  days. 

A  just  King  and  taught  by  God  is  he  who  will  reign, 

There  shall  be  no  wrong  in  his  days  among  them, 

For  all  shall  be  holy: 

Their  King  is  the  Lord  Messiah." 

As  he  heard  the  words,  Saul  would  see  with  the  keen 
vision  of  his  mind's  eye  a  young  valiant  Prince,  com- 
ing up  over  the  hills  at  the  head  of  a  glittering  army, 
sweeping  the  Romans  out  of  the  city  and  the  land,  and 
himself  ruling,  not  only  over  Jerusalem,  but  the  whole 
earth. 

Immortal  words  that  Saul  had  learned  would  ring 
in  his  head: 

"  There  was  given  him  power  and  glory  and  a  kingdom, 
That  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should  serve  him : 
His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
Which  shall  not  pass  away. 
And  his  Kingdom  shall  not  be  destroyed." 


58  IN  TRAINING 

The  song  of  the  Golden  Age  had  been  written  a 
hundred  years  before  Saul  was  in  Jerusalem.  Yet  in 
all  that  century  the  Fighting  Prince  had  not  arrived. 
Would  he  ever  come? 

"When  will  he  come?"  the  young  students  would 
ask  Gamaliel.     "  What  will  he  be  like  ?  " 

"  He  may  come  at  any  day,  at  any  hour.  He  will 
come  when  the  need  is  greatest — and  great  is  the  need 
now.  He  will  be  of  the  tribe  of  Judah;  a  son  of 
David.  He  will  be  born — he  may  already  have  been 
born-^in  Bethlehem,  or  Jerusalem.  He  will  lead  an 
army.  Be  prepared.  Beware  of  the  false  Messiahs 
who  are  leading  the  people  astray.  Watch — for  the 
conquering  King  will  certainly  come." 

In  such  words  as  these  Gamaliel  would  tell 
his  students  of  the  Golden  Age  that  was  to  be, 
and  the  Prince  who  even  then  might  be  preparing  his 
army. 

What  a  harsh,  contemptuous  laugh  would  have 
broken  out  in  that  group  of  Law  students  in  the 
Temple  if  someone  could  have  told  them  the  truth 
which  no  one  then  knew — that  the  Conquering  Prince 
was  already  in  their  country;  that,  in  a  village  among 
the  hills,  three  days'  journey  northward.  He  was  in  a 
carpenter's  shop  making  yokes  for  oxen. 


Yet,  even  as  Saul  and  his  fellow-students  walked 
from  the  Temple  in  the  afternoon  talking  of  the 
coming  King,  the  young  village  Carpenter,  Jesus, 
shook  the  sweet-scented  shavings  and  sawdust  from 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE  59 

His  tunic,  and — pulling  His  girdle  tighter  as  He  gave 
a  smiling  word  to  His  mother — walked  out  of  the 
shade  of  the  cool  workshop  into  the  sunny  street,  and 
climbed  the  glorious  hills 

"that  girdle  quiet  Nazareth" 


"WHOM  SAY  YE  THAT  I  AM?" 

THROUGH  spring  after  spring  the  storks  trailed 
northward  by  Jordan  and  desert,  sea  and 
plain,  while  Saul,  the  student  of  the  Law,  was 
learning.  Like  the  wrestlers,  whom  he  watched  at 
Tarsus  at  the  Greek  games  when  he  went  home,  he 
grew  quicker  and  more  confident  as,  year  after  year, 
he  tussled  in  swift  argument  with  his  fellow-students 
or  even  tried  a  bout  of  words  with  Gamaliel. 

So  eager  was  he  for  the  triumph  of  "  the  true  wor- 
ship," so  passionate  was  his  reverence  for  the  one  Holy 
God,  that  he  was  ready  to  kill — he  even  believed  that 
God  would  want  him  to  kill  his  own  brother,  if  that 
brother  were  to  ask  him  to  worship  any  of  these  other 
gods. 

The  words  that  he  knew  so  well  would  ring  through 
his  head — words  from  the  Law  of  Moses. 

"  You  shall  not  consent  unto  him, 
Nor  listen  to  him ; 
Neither  shall  your  eye  pity  him, 
Neither  shall  you  spare. 

Neither  shall  you  conceal  him : 
But  you  shall  surely  kill  him  ... 
You  shall  stone  him  with  stones  that  he  die; 
Because  he  has  tried  to  draw  you 
Away  from  the  Lord  your  God." 
tg  .  .  .  .  .  . 

60 


<*WHOM  SAY  YE  THAT  1  AM?*»         61 

Yet,  even  as  Saul  repeated  the  awful  words  of  the 
Law,  Jesus — Who  had  now  left  His  Nazareth  home 
— was  walking  with  those  young  Galilee  fishermen, 
whom  he  had  called  from  their  boats  by  the  lake  to 
follow  Him,  and  was  saying  to  them : 

"  Love  your  enemies, 
Do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
Bless  them  that  curse  you. 
Pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you. 
To  him  who  smites  you  on  the  one  cheek 
Offer  also  the  other  .   .   . 
Love  your  enemies,  and  do  them  good,  .  .  . 
And  you  shall  be  sons  of  the  Most  High : 
For  He  is  kind  toward  the  unthankful  and  evil." 


Andrew  and  Simon,  John,  James  and  Philip  and  the 
others,  as  they  sat  round  Him  on  the  grass  of  the 
mountain-side,  heard  the  words: 

"  Happy  are  you  poor,  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  yours. 

Happy  are  you  who  hunger  now,  for  you  shall  be  fed. 

Happy  are  you  who  weep,  for  you  shall  laugh. 

Be  happy  when  men  hate  you  and  insult  you. 

Dance  for  joy,  for  just  so  did  they  treat  the  Prophets. 

Love  your  enemies  and  forgive  those  who  have  done  evil  to  you." 

Their  spirits  leapt  out  in  answer  to  the  glorious 
height  and  might  of  His  appeal. 

A  thought  took  shape  in  their  minds.  Could  it  really 
be  that  this  was  He,  the  Prince-Messiah,  for  Whom 
they  and  all  their  fellow-countrymen  looked  to  save 
their  people  ? 

"  Yes,  but  if  He  is  the  Messiah  (they  would  ask 
one  another),  will  He  lead  us  and  all  the  people  from 
the  villages  and  towns  against  the  Romans?     Shall 


62  IN  TRAINING 

we  make  Him  King  of  the  Jews  ?  What  about  getting 
swords  and  spears  for  fighting?  " 

He  gathered  them  round  Him,  and  with  gentle  sim- 
pHcity  and  dignity  told  them  of  a  Kingdom  that  was 
not  of  force,  but  of  love — a  Kingdom  where  the  tired, 
starving  prodigal .  son  and  the  loathed  tax-collector, 
the  poor  woman  and  the  strong  young  men  would  all 
come  in  the  spirit  of  children,  in  happy  comradeship 
and  holy  worship. 

Then  one  day,  in  answer  to  a  question  from  Jesus, 
"  Whom  do  ye  say  that  I  am?  "  the  impetuous  Simon 
blurted  it  out : 

"  You  are  the  Christ !  " 

He  took  a  baby  on  His  knee  and  His  arm  was 
round  a  boy  who  stood  by  His  side. 

"  The  Kingdom,"  he  said,  "  is  of  such  as  these. 
Whoever  does  not  accept  the  Kingdom  like  one  of 
these  will  never  enter  it." 

And  a  great  sternness  came  over  His  face  as  He 
declared : 

"  Whoever  makes  one  of  these  least  stumble,  it 
would  be  better  that  a  millstone  were  hung  round  his 
neck  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth  of 
the  sea." 

Then  He  walked  on  southward,  walked  apart  from 
them,  His  face  set  and  stern,  on  through  the  gathering 
night,  to  face  all  the  tense  hate  that  He  knew  had 
gathered  against  Him  at  Jerusalem,  the  Jerusalem 
which  Saul,  now  a  graduate,  had  probably  left,  to 
return  to  his  home  at  Tarsus.  The  snarling  priests  of 
the  Jews  and  the  cruel  soldiers  of  Rome  were  at  one 
for  once,  in  their  hate  of  the  Jesus.     For  His  King- 


JUDAS    BKTKAVING    JKSUS    TV    Till-:    SOLDIERS 

The  flickering  glow  of  torches   ...   as  the  soldiers  stumbled 
down  the  ravine." 


"WHOM  SAY  YE  THAT  I  AM?"         63 

dom  was  to  be  higher  and  stronger  than  either  the 
thousand  rules  of  the  priests,  or  the  sword  and  the 
fortress  of  Rome — and  they  knew  it  and  hated  Him. 

At  last  He  stood  in  the  Temple  court  in  all  the 
might  of  His  own  simple  majesty.  There — where 
Saul  had  been  learning  the  whole  duty  of  the  Pharisee 
— He  stood  and  raised  His  voice  as  He  pointed  to 
priests  and  Pharisees,  Scribes  and  Sadducees. 

"Alas  for  you!"  cried  Jesus.  "Teachers  and 
Pharisees,  play-actors,  humbugs.  You  will  not  go 
into  the  Kingdom,  and  you  will  not  let  anyone  else  go 
in.  You  white-washed  graves,  outwardly  clean,  you 
are  inwardly  rotten.  You  slaughterers  of  the  prophets 
whom  you  flog  and  kill ;  how  can  you — alas !  how  can 
you  escape  condemnation  ?  " 

He  turned  His  back  on  them— left  them,  for  His 
Last  Supper  and  the  agony  in  the  Garden. 

After  Supper,  when  He  had  gone  into  the  Garden 
across  the  Brook,  there  came  the  flickering  glow  of 
torches,  whose  light  danced  and  wavered  as  the  sol- 
diers stumbled  down  the  dark  ravine  and  crossed  into 
Gethsemane.  They  took  Him  to  the  Hall  of  Hewn 
Stone,  where  the  hastily  gathered  Council  of  Priests 
heard  Him  say  what  was  to  them  the  last  blasphemy 
— "  I  am  the  Christ." 

They  called  Him  "  Liar,"  and  those  who  wore  the 
robes  of  servants  of  God  spat  in  His  face,  blindfolded 
Him,  let  the  soldiers  beat  Him,  jeering  at  Him,  and 
saying : 

"  Now,  Prophet,  guess  who  smote  Thee?  " 

To  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  cursing  Peter,  saying, 
"  I  never  knew  the  Man,"  He  crossed  from  the  Hall 


64  IN  TRAINING 

of  the  Jewish  Council  to  the  Roman  Judgment  Hall, 
to  look  in  the  face  of  careless  Pilate  and  to  enter  into 
the  crafty,  coarse,  shifty  presence  of  Herod.  They 
lashed  Him  with  a  many-thonged  whip :  they  crushed 
a  cruel  crown  of  thorns  on  His  head;  put  on  Him  a 
mock  royal  robe  and  a  sceptre-reed.  And  the  cry  went 
up  to  the  brazen  sky: 

"Crucify  Him!    Crucify  Him!" 

For  six  hours,  nailed  to  the  Roman  gibbet-cross, 
He  hung,  till  His  cry  came,  "  It  is  finished." 

They  buried  Him  in  a  stone-cut  sepulchre. 

As  the  dawn  came  up  over  Galilee  one  morning  and 
men  who  had  fished  all  night  without  catching  any- 
thing drew  near  to  the  shore,  a  Voice  came  over  the 
water : 

"  Comrades,  have  you  any  fish  ?  " 

"  No,"  they  answered. 

"  Throw  out  the  net  on  the  other  side." 

And  it  was  full  of  fish. 

Christ  had  risen!  He  was  there  again  as  in  the 
great  days.  Once  more  and  for  the  last  time  the 
comrades  sat  to  breakfast  on  the  beach.  The  last 
words  that  He  said  that  morning  were  the  first  that 
He  had  spoken  on  the  same  pebble  beach  three  years 
before. 

"  Follow  Me." 

And  somewhere  Saul,  the  young  law  graduate,  was 
rising  that  same  morning,  putting  on  the  spotless  white 
robe  of  the  Pharisee — washing  his  hands  and  face  in 
running  water,  and  making  his  morning  prayer  toward 


"WHOM  SAY  YE  THAT  I  AM?"  65 

the  Temple.  He  was  trying  to  do  the  will  of  God  in 
every  detail. 

To  him  came  the  story  that  was  gathering  the 
people  in  gossip  in  the  bazaars  of  Jerusalem — that  the 
followers  of  the  crucified  rebel  Nazarene,  Jesus,  de- 
clared that  He  had  risen  again  and  were  actually  wor- 
shipping in  His  name. 

Saul's  soul  shuddered  at  the  blasphemy. 

"  Cursed  is  he  who  hangs  on  the  tree,"  said  the  Law. 

These  blasphemous,  ignorant  Galilean  peasants  were 
worshipping  the  cursed! 

The  refrain  of  the  Law  would  hammer  again  at  the 
brain  of  Saul  as  he  thought  of  these  men. 

"  Neither  shall  your  eye  pity  him. 
Neither  shall  you  spare,  .    .    . 
But  you  shall  surely  kill  him  .   .   . 
You  shall  stone  him  with  stones  that  he  die." 


VI 

THE  SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES 

WHETHER  Saul  was  at  home  in  Tarsus  when 
Jesus  was  crucified  and  rose  again  we  can- 
not truly  know.  But  now,  when  all  Jeru- 
salem was  full  of  the  story  of  the  Nazarene  movement, 
he  was  certainly  back  walking  in  the  Temple  courts 
and  greeting  with  reverence  his  old  master  Gamaliel. 

In  the  shadow  of  the  cloisters,  behind  the  marble 
pillars,  he  would  gather  with  young  men  of  his  own 
stamp — hot-blooded,  keen-witted  young  zealous  Phar- 
isees— and  go  over  the  whole  maddening  story.  As  it 
sunk-  into  his  mind,  his  anger  grew  hot  beyond 
measure. 

"  Yes,"  they  would  say,  "  we  thought  that,  when 
this  Pretender,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  was  taken  up  the 
hill  there  and  nailed  to  the  cross  between  two  other 
miscreants,  that  would  be  the  end;  and  that  these 
Galilean  fellows  would  go  quietly  back  to  their  fishing. 
But  now  they  actually  come  into  these  very  courts  and 
blaspheme  this  holy  place  by  declaring  that  Jesus  has 
risen  from  the  dead — Jesus,  who  must  be  cursed  (as 
the  Law  says),  for  He  has  hung  upon  the  tree.  And 
they  say — may  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  forgive  me 
for  repeating  it ! — that  the  Most  High  has  poured  out 
His  Spirit  on  the  followers  of  Jesus.  What  is  worse 
still,  the  people  are  beginning  to  believe  them.    There 

66 


SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES  67 

are  thousands  of  these  Nazarenes  in  Jerusalem  now — 
even  some  of  the  priests  have  gone  over  to  them. 

"  They  go  down  there  in  Solomon's  Porch  and  speak 
to  one  another  and  to  the  people.  But  last  night  they 
were  locked  up  by  the  High  Priest,  and  they  are  to  be 
tried  to-day.    See,  there  they  come !  " 

There  in  the  Temple  court  stood  the  Nazarene 
leaders,  and  prominent  among  them  a  dark-haired, 
radiant,  courageous-looking  man.  The  Captain  of  the 
Temple  Guard  came  up  to  Peter,  as  he  was  speaking 
to  the  people,  and  led  him  and  his  friends  away  to 
the  assembly  of  priests — while  the  people  round  about 
murmured  to  one  another,  saying  that  these  interfering 
officials  ought  to  be  stoned. 

Saul  was  probably  there,  and,  if  so,  he  would  see 
the  High  Priest  look  straight  at  Peter,  and  say: 

"  We  ordered  you  not  to  teach  in  this  Name 
(of  Jesus).  Yet  you  have  filled  Jerusalem  with  it. 
Now,  forsooth,  you  want  to  bring  this  man's  blood 
on  us." 

"  We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men,"  Peter  said 
boldly.  "  And  God  raised  up  Jesus  Whom  you  (and 
his  arm  swung  round  over  the  company  of  priests) 
killed — hanging  Him  on  a  tree.  God  lifted  Him  up 
to  be  a  Prince  and  to  save  us.  .  .  .  We  (and  Peter 
would  turn  to  point  to  his  friends)  have  seen  these 
things;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  also  (Whom  God  has 
given  to  those  who  obey  Him)  is  witness  that  this  is 
true." 

The  eyes  in  front  of  Peter  gleamed  with  anger;  the 
mouths  grew  stern. 

"  Let  us  kill  them,"  was  the  word  that  went  from 


68  IN  TRAINING 

priest  to  priest  as  they  listened  with  startled  faces  to 
Peter  accusing  them  of  killing  God's  Messiah. 

Then  a  sudden  silence  fell  as  all  eyes  turned  toward 
a  commanding  figure  who  stood  up. 

"  It  is  Gamaliel,"  the  word  went  round. 

Saul  would  crane  his  neck  and  listen  intently  for 
what  his  old  teacher  might  say.  In  Saul's  own  heart 
the  word  of  the  Law  for  such  blasphemous  idolators 
as  these  Nazarenes  throbbed  the  answer: 

"  You  shall  stone  him  with  stones  that  he  die." 

But  Gamaliel  said,  "  Take  the  men  away  for  a  time." 

At  a  signal  from  the  High  Priest  the  Captain  of  the 
Temple  had  Peter  and  his  friends  led  away. 

"Take  care,"  said  Gamaliel,  when  the  Nazarenes 
were  out  of  earshot,  "  take  care  what  you  decide  to 
do  about  these  men.  My  advice  is,  let  them  alone.  If 
this  work'  is  simply  of  men  it  will  come  to  nothing.  If 
it  is  of  God,  you  cannot  overthrow  it.  And  you  may 
discover,  after  all,  that  you.  have  been  fighting  against 
God." 

Saul,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  would  hardly  be  able 
to  keep  silence  at  such  advice.  He  disagreed  violently 
with  every  word  his  old  master  had  said. 

"  Tear  out  this  blasphemous  clique,  root  and 
branch,"  would  have  been  his  advice  if  he  had  been 
asked.  He  felt  thus,  not  because  he  disliked  the  men 
themselves,  but  because  he  really  believed  that  they 
had  put  a  Pretending  Messiah  on  a  level  with  the  Holy 
God.  They  were  making  a  parody  of  all  the  things 
Saul  held  to  be  most  sacred.  To  preserve  the  holy 
religion  of  Jehovah  these  men  must  be  killed,  as  the 
Law  commanded. 


SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES  69 

But  the  wise  speech  of  Gamaliel  carried  the  day. 
The  priests  decided  not  to  kill  Peter  and  John  and 
the  other  leaders,  though  they  would  not  let  them  off 
without  some  punishment.  So  the  Nazarenes  were 
brought  to  the  priests  again,  and  their  backs  were  bared 
to  the  pitiless  rods  of  the  Temple  Guard,  who  rained 
strokes  upon  them. 

"  Now,"  said  Caiaphas,  "  do  not  ever  again  speak  in 
the  name  of  Jesus." 

But  on  the  following  morning,  if  he  went  to  the 
marble  steps  of  the  Temple,  he  would  have  seen  these 
incorrigible  Galilean  peasants  already  speaking.  And 
there  were  the  crowds,  who  listened  eagerly  to  the 
Good  News  of  the  love  and  power  of  God  the  Father, 
Who  had  raised  Jesus,  the  true  Messiah. 

Those  who  joined  the  Nazarenes  learned,  beside 
the  love  of  the  Father,  to  obey  Jesus'  one  great  com- 
mandment that  they  should  "  love  one  another."  And 
when  they  met  in  one  another's  houses  for  supper  and 
broke  the  little  loaves  of  bread  and  drank  their  cup 
of  wine  together,  they  did  it  in  remembrance  of 
Him. 

Saul  walked  along  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  brooding 
over  the  growth  of  this  new  party  of  Nazarenes.  He 
nursed  his  anger  till  his  hot  young  blood  boiled  within 
him  in  hate  of  them.  He  must  have  been  perplexed 
sometimes;  for  he  would  see,  in  their  faces  and  bear- 
ing, a  blithe  courage,  a  cheerful  boldness  that  neither 
swaggered  nor  cringed.  They  glowed  with  some  inner, 
secret  light.  They  seemed  always  lively  in  spirit,  like 
flowers  kept  fresh  by  a  hidden  spring  of  living  water. 
If  asked  for  their  secret  they  said  that  the  Holy  Spirit 


70  IN  TRAINING 

— the  Comforter — Who  Jesus  had  promised  should 
come,  was  in  them. 

Saul's  anger  would  break  out  again  at  this  parody 
— as  it  seemed  to  him — of  sacred  things.  He  had 
argued  with  the  Nazarenes;  especially  had  he  and 
others  of  the  Cilician  synagogue  where  he  worshipped 
in  Jerusalem  discussed  with  a  young  Jew — like  him- 
self, a  Jew  from  a  foreign  land — named  Stephen.  But 
neither  he  nor  the  other  learned  men  from  Tarsus 
and  Rome  and  Egypt  could  break  down  Stephen's 
assurance  of  the  Risen  Jesus. 

Unable  to  overcome  Stephen  in  discussion  they  got 
some  men  to  go  down  to  the  Temple  to  the  priests  to 
witness  against  him.  When  these  men  came  in  front 
of  the  members  of  the  great  council,  called  the  San- 
hedrin,  they  said : 

"There  is  a  man  named  Stephen,  one  of  these 
Nazarenes,  who  says  that  Jesus  will  come  and  destroy 
all  this  place " — and  they  pointed  to  the  glorious 
Temple  of  shining  marble,  with  its  roof  of  gold,  and 
to  the  sacred  portico  hiding  the  Holy  of"  Holies. 
"  And  he  dares  to  say  that  this  Jesus  will  change  all 
the  customs  that  Moses  gave  us." 

This  was  rebellion  and  blasphemy  in  one,  so  the 
Council  gave  orders  for  Stephen's  arrest  and  trial. 

The  men  went  and  took  hold  of  Stephen  and  led 
him  down  to  the  Hall  of  Hewn  Stone,  while,  outside, 
the  people  flocked  together  to  talk  about  the  trial. 
The  President  of  the  Council  took  his  seat.  Round 
him  in  a  great  semicircle  were  the  other  sixty-nine 
judges.    In  front  of  them  stood  the  accused  Stephen. 

The  witnesses  told  their  story  again. 


SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES  71 

"  Are  these  things  so  ?  "  asked  the  President. 

They  all  fastened  their  eyes  on  Stephen.  And  they 
saw — not  a  cringing,  frightened  prisoner,  but  a  man 
whose  glowing  face  shone  like  the  face  of  an  angel. 

There  was  the  dead  and  chilling  silence  of  watch- 
ful enemies  as  Stephen's  voice  rang  out  clearly  in  the 
hall. 

"  Brothers  and  fathers,  listen !  " 

And  he  told  them  the  great  story  which  they  knew 
so  well,  but  of  which  they  never  saw  the  true  meaning 
— the  story  of  how  the  God  of  Glory  had  appeared  to 
their  Father  Abraham  and  led  him  from  one  land  to 
another  and  then  had  carried  Joseph  to  Egypt,  leading 
again  the  people  under  Moses  back  from  Egypt  across 
the  desert  to  the  promised  land  where  Solomon  built 
the  Temple  for  the  house  of  God. 

At  this  point  they  would  all  lean  forward  to  listen 
intently  to  what  was  to  follow,  for  the  accusation 
against  Stephen  was  that  he  scorned  this  Temple — 
declared  that  it  would  be  destroyed.  Swiftly  he  went 
on  with  a  quotation  from  a  prophet,  in  whom  they  all 
professed  to  believe,  showing  that 

"  The  Most  High  does  not  live  in  a  Temple  made 
with  hands  " ;  or,  as  the  prophet  put  it, 

"The  sky  is  my  throne 
And  the  earth  the  footstool  of  my  feet, 
What  kind  of  house  will  you  build  me?  asks  the  Lord: 
Does  not  my  hand  make  all  these  things  ?  " 

Stephen's  argument  was  that  they  and  not  he  were 
the  real  blasphemers — they  who  put  the  marble  and 
gold  Temple  above  the  great  Spirit,  "  the  God  of 
Glory,"  Who  made  everything.  Who  sent  Jesus  Whom 


72  IN  TRAINING 

the  priests  had  destroyed,  though  He  was  greater  than 
the  Temple.  So  he  turned  on  them  with  sudden  pas- 
sion and  flung  out  his  scathing  denunciation.  Startled, 
they  saw  the  accused  suddenly  become  the  terrible 
accuser. 

"  You  stiff-necked  men — you  always  set  yourself 
against  that  Holy  Spirit.  Your  fathers  did,  and  so 
do  you.  They  killed  the  prophets  long  ago,  killed  the 
men  who  told  that  the  Just  One  was  coming :  and  now 
you  have  become  His  betrayers  and  murderers — yes, 
you  who  have  the  Law  and  do  not  keep  it." 

All  pretence  of  judicial  trial  was  swept  aside.  With 
frenzied  faces  they  ground  and  gnashed  their  teeth 
with  anger  on  him. 

But,  even  as  their  fury  rose,  Stephen's  stern  anger 
fell  from  him.  He  looked  up  above  the  heads  of  his 
accusers,  up  and  away  to  a  vision  that  held  his  eyes. 

"  I  see  the  Heavens  opened,"  he  declared,  "  and 
the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God." 

"  Blasphemy,  blasphemy! "  rose  in  a  yell  of  horror 
and  rage.  They  shouted  to  drown  the  voice  of  Stephen 
and  put  their  hands  over  their  ears  so  that  they  should 
not  hear  a  word  more.  The  court  rose  as  one  man 
and  rushed  on  him.  They  dragged  him  up  the  streets 
out  to  the  city  wall,  under  the  dark  shadows  of  the 
gateway. 

"  Stone  him,  stone  him ! "  came  the  hoarse  and 
hideous  cry,  though  out  of  windows  peered  the  heads 
of  timorous,  weeping  women,  and  under  the  shadow 
of  doorways  boys,  who  had  learned  to  think  what  a 
splendid  hero  Stephen  was,  shivered  with  a  nameless 
dread  as  he  passed. 


SAUL  CONSEXTIXG   TO  THE  DEATH    OF   STEPHEN 
"  The  stones  beat  upon  him." 


SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES  73 

In  the  crowd  was  a  young,  hot-blooded  Pharisee, 
whose  heart  thumped,  "  Stone  him,  stone  him !  " — 
Saul,  whose  natural  tenderness  was  all  burned  up  in  a 
great  hate  of  these  maddening  Nazarenes  and  their 
"  risen  Jesus." 

Out  from  the  shadow  of  the  northern  gateway  they 
came  on  to  the  edge  of  a  ravine  beyond  the  city  wall, 
the  Place  of  Stoning. 

The  witnesses  threw  off  their  robes  in  a  heap  at  the 
feet  of  the  young  Pharisee,  Saul.  Then,  stooping, 
they  lifted  the  grey,  jagged  stones  that  lay  on  the 
ground.  Pushing  with  frenzied  hands,  others  thrust 
Stephen  out  over  the  edge  of  the  ridge. 

"  Lord  Jesus,"  he  called,  lifting  his  face  to  the 
skies,  "  receive  my  spirit."  The  stones  beat  upon  him. 
Falling  to  his  knees,  he  called  out  again,  in  the  very 
spirit  of  his  Master,  Who  had  said,  "  Father,  forgive 
them!" 

"  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge." 

And  when  he  had  said  this  he  fell  asleep. 


The  stoners  wiped  the  grit  from  their  hands  and 
stooped  to  pick  up  their  cloaks  from  the  feet  of  Saul. 
They  had  drawn  first  blood.  Did  any  pity  move 
in  Saul  himself  at  the  sight  of  the  bruised  body  lying 
there?  He  must  have  winced,  for  all  through  his  life 
he  showed  a  strong  tenderness.  But  he  believed  that 
God  called  him  to  scourge  these  Nazarenes,  and  the 
words  of  the  Law  would  come  back  to  him: 

"  Neither  shall  your  eye  pity  him, 
Neither  shall  you  spare." 


74  IN  TRAINING 

Back  to  the  city  then.  Beating  down  the  pity  that 
he  felt,  Saul,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  Temple  Guards, 
scoured  the  streets,  broke  into  the  houses  of  those  who 
professed  faith  in  Jesus  and  binding  them — men  and 
women  alike — he  had  them  driven  like  cattle  down  to 
the  prison.  Men  and  women  fled  from  Jerusalem 
by  hundreds;  they  hurried  away  among  the  hills 
of  Judaea  and  northward  into  Samaria.  And  every- 
where, when  they  settled  down  into  their  village 
or  passed  from  place  to  place,  they  told  the  story  of 
Jesus. 

Saul,  being  exceedingly  mad  against  the  Nazarenes, 
and  striving  in  a  frenzied'  campaign  to  quiet  the 
qualms  of  remorse  that  he  felt,  had  stamped  his  foot 
into  the  fire  of  the  Faith  at  Jerusalem  to  put  it  out. 
The  blazing  embers  flew  out  and  kindled  new  flame  in 
all  the  land.-  He  breathed  out  threatening  and  murder, 
and  his  fury  fed  itself  on  the  stories  that  came  in  from 
pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  of  the  way  the  Nazarene  faith 
was  spreading.  Saul  brooded  over  it.  One  day,  hav- 
ing come  to  a  decision,  he  went  down  to  the  Temple 
court  and  sought  the  High  Priest. 

The  eyes  of  the  old  man  would  light  up  with  ap- 
proval as  he  heard  Saul  pouring  out  his  desire  to  go 
north  and  stamp  out  the  Nazarenes.  His  plan  was  to 
go  straight  to  the  great  capital  of  the  north  country, 
Damascus.  If  Jerusalem  and  Damascus  were  once 
scoured  and  all  the  disciples  of  Jesus  there  haled  to 
prison,  the  movement  would  die  out  in  the  isolated 
villages.  Calling  his  letter-writer,  Caiaphas  dictated 
letters  to  the  chief  Jews  in  the  synagogues  of  Damas- 
cus, saying  that,  if  any  of  the  Nazarenes  were  there, 


SCOURGE  OF  THE  NAZARENES  75 

Saul  had  authority  to  take  them  prisoner  and  lead 
them  as  captives  to  Jerusalem. 

Saul  swiftly  prepared  himself  for  the  great  journey. 
With  his  young  face  turned  northward,  he  passed  out 
of  Jerusalem  under  the  arch  of  the  great  gateway  in 
the  city  wall  into  the  open  country. 


VII 
THE  GREAT   ADVENTURE 

THE  lengths  of  the  Roman  road  stretched  ahead 
of  Saul  and  his  companions  as  they  rode  out  in 
the  sunshine.  He  climbed  till  he  could  look 
back  on  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  and  all  its  buildings 
ringed  round  with  the  grim  walls.  The  line  of  the 
wall  was  broken  with  many  towers.  On  one  of  these 
the  armour  of  some  Roman  sentry  would  catch  the 
glint  of  the  morning  light.  But  Saul  would  barely 
turn  his  head  to  look  back,  for  he  was  on  urgent 
business.  And  it  was  outside  that  wall  that  he  had 
stood  consenting  to  the  death  of  Stephen. 

Would  the  memory  of  that  face  never  leave  him  ? 

The  road  ran  close  by  the  hill  Gibeah,  on  whose 
fortified  crest  his  great  ancestor  and  namesake  had 
lived  before  the  days  when  he  was  called  to  be  the 
first  of  all  the  kings  of  Israel.  King  Saul  had  slain  his 
thousands  with  sword  and  javelin  in  his  battles  against 
the  enemies  of  Israel;  but  even  he  had  never  seemed 
more  sure  that  he  was  fighting  in  the  cause  of  God 
than  was  this  young  namesake,  who  was  now  dashing 
northward  to  make  havoc  among  the  disciples.  Yet, 
even  as  Saul  hurried  on,  the  questions  would  rise  in 
his  mind:  What  was  the  secret  of  the  calm,  cheerful 
boldness  of  these  strange  people?  They  must  be 
wrong  about  Jesus — and  yet,   was  it  possible  that, 

70 


THE  GREAT  ADVENTURE  77 

after  all,  Gamaliel  might  be  right  when  he  said,  "  Be- 
ware lest  you  find  yourselves  fighting  against  God  "  ? 

Beyond  Gibeah  Saul  rode  northward  till  the  great 
mass  of  Mount  Ephraim  bent  the  road  to  the  right. 
Saul  would  see  laden  camels  coming  up  a  road  that 
ran  in  from  the  left  carrying  goods  from  the  Roman 
port  of  Csesarea.  But  he  himself  would  keep  the 
direct  road  by  the  hills  of  Samaria. 

He  stopped  to  drink  at  the  well  of  Jacob,  and  per- 
haps to  sleep  at  a  wayside  rest-house  there,  whence 
he  would  see  the  sun  set  between  the  Mount  of  the 
Curse  and  the  Mount  of  the  Blessing — Gerizim  and 
Ebal.  But  nothing  except  the  need  for  food  and 
drink  and  sleep  would  make  him  pause. 

The  road  was  a  busy  one.  A  Roman  colonial  would 
pass,  riding  to  his  new  station,  with  his  retinue  of 
horses  and  mules ;  the  shaded  palanquin  ^  for  his  wife 
swung  on  the  shoulders  of  slave-bearers;  the  clatter- 
ing guard  of  soldiers — horse  and  foot — behind.  A 
caravan  of  Men  of  the  Desert  walking  beside  their 
camels  wound  southward,  bringing  bales  of  Damascus 
cloth  for  selling  in  the  bazaars  of  Jerusalem. 

Then  Saul  came  over  the  hills  down  into  the  broad 
hot  valley  of  Jordan,  with  Mount  Gilboa  lifting  itself 
on  his  left,  and  crossing  the  stream  that  runs  from  the 
Valley  of  Jezreel  on  his  left,  Saul  and  his  friends 
marched  straight  on;  till  at  last  he  could  look  up  the 
Lake  of  Galilee,  with  its  busy  encircling  road  joining 
up  the  fishing  towns  under  the  quiet  hills  dappled  with 
flocks  of  roaming  sheep  and  goats. 

*  To  this  day  these  palanquins  are  known  by  the  name  of 
"  Takht  Aronam  " ;  i.e.  "  Roman  bedstead." 


78  IN  TRAINING 

If  he  had  stopped  here  to  linger  on  the  lakeside 
and  to  ask  the  men  who  sat  mending  their  nets  about 
the  Jesus  Who  had  sailed  across  its  shining  blue  waters 
and  preached  from  a  fishing-boat  to  the  people 
gathered  on  the  white  beach,  Saul  would  have  heard 
such  stories  of  love  and  healing  as  would  have  deepened 
his  questionings  whether,  after  all,  Jesus  was  the 
Great  Pretender. 

The  lake,  however,  with  its  quiet  industry,  its 
brown  fishermen,  and  its  brooding  hills  reflected  in  the 
bright  water,  could  not  hold  him.  To  him  hunger  and 
fatigue,  the  lake  and  the  hills,  stream  and  bridge  and 
road,  were  just  obstacles  between  himself  and  his 
goal — Damascus. 

Skirting  the  west  bank  of  the  lake  past  Magdala, 
and  riding  across  the  Gennesaret  Plain,  he  climbed  the 
northward  hills  thrust  out  like  gnarled  roots  of  Mount 
Lebanon.  Then  turning  east,  he  dropped  again  to  the 
valley  of  the  River  Jordan,  which  he  crossed  by  a 
Roman  bridge.  He  would  see  the  oxen  dragging 
wagons  up  the  hills,  with  the  heavy  solid  wheels  creak- 
ing and  the  driver  shouting  as  he  prodded  the  slow 
beasts  with  his  goad.  Then  one  ill-tempered  ox 
(Saul  might  notice)  kicked  against  the  goad,  only  to 
drive  the  iron  point  further  into  his  own  skin. 

Day  after  day  Saul  pressed  on.  Higher  and  higher 
loomed  the  great  ridge  of  Anti-Lebanon  where  the 
oaks  clothed  the  high  range  and  flecked  the  rock-clefts 
with  green.  In  the  heat  of  the  day  he  would  look  up 
over  his  left  shoulder  and  feel  glad  to  see  the  white 
summit  of  Mount  Hermon.  From  the  melting  snows 
of  Hermon  the  streams  ran  down  to  make  all  the 


THE  GREAT  ADVENTURE  79 

parched  land  glad.  For  three  days  that  strong, 
majestic  mountain  of  white  peacefulness  was  his  com- 
panion, gleaming  pink  in  the  dawn  as  he  started  each 
day  and  silhouetted  in  royal  purple  as  the  sun  set 
over  its  shoulder. 

The  last  day  of  his  journey  had,  at  length,  come. 
In  the  hour  before  sunrise,  the  hour  when  the  shepherd 
leads  his  flock  from  the  fold  on  to  the  hills  while  the 
dew  still  fringes  the  cup  of  the  anemone,  Saul  started 
out  from  the  rest-house  with  his  companions.  The 
dawn  came  up  out  of  the  desert-land  eastward,  and 
the  Hermon  height  glowed  as  they  pressed  forward 
over  the  volcanic  tableland  which  at  last  drops  down 
on  the  plain  of  Damascus.^ 

The  sun  lifted  slowly  in  the  shadeless  land.  The 
hour  of  noon  drew  near,  when  the  power  of  the  sun  is 
like  a  burden  bowing  the  shoulders  of  the  traveller. 
The  camel-caravans  drew  out  of  the  road  under  the 
eaves  of  a  rest-house,  and  no  sound  of  bells  broke  the 
burning  silence  that  only  seemed  deepened  by  the  hum 
of  many  insects. 

The  travellers  came  over  a  crest  of  a  low  hill.  The 
road  stretched  ahead  of  them  across  the  plain  of 
orchards,  beyond  which  the  walls  of  Damascus  rose. 
A  dream-city — a  mirage  of  the  desert — she  looked, 
as  her  roofs  quivered,  seen  through  the  trembling  air. 

It  was  the  hour  when  all  the  world  of  the  East 
rests.  But  the  young  campaigner  was  in  the  full 
flood  of  his  boundless  energy.  Ahead  was  the  city 
where  he  was  to  win  his  spurs.    Feeling  in  his  breast 

*  The    old    Roman    road    runs    from    the    Bridge    of   Jacob's 
daughters  via  Sasa  on  to  Damascus.    The  plateau  is  fairly  level. 


80  IN  TRAINING 

for  the  sealed  and  signed  parchment  of  the  High 
Priest,  he  bent  his  head  to  the  blazing  sun  and  pressed 
on.  Nothing  (it  seemed)  could  stop  this  scourge  of 
the  Nazarenes.  But  even  as  his  next  step  was  taken 
on  that  shoulder  of  the  hill, 

"  At  that  next  white  corner  of  the  road," 

he  met  his  great  adventure — he  came  to  that  moment 
that  made  all  his  life  new — a  moment  that  changed  the 
history  of  the  world, 

"  Suddenly,"  he  tells  us  (and  the  experience  is  so 
sacred  and  wonderful  that  one  dare  not  try  to  describe 
it  in  any  except  his  own  words),  "there  shone  from 
heaven  a  great  light  round  about  me. 

"  I  fell  to  the  ground  and  heard  a  Voice  saying  to 
me: 

"  *  Saul,  Saul,  why  do  you  persecute  me  ?  It  is  hard 
for  you  to  kick  against  the  goad.' 

"  *  Who  are  you,  Lord  ?  '  I  answered. 

"  And  He  said  to  me : 

"  *  I  am  Jesus  the  Nazarene,  whom  you  are  perse- 
cuting.* 

"  I  said,  *  What  shall  I  do,  Lord? ' 

"  And  the  Lord  said  to  me : 

"  *  Rise,  and  go  to  Damascus ;  and  it  shall  be  told 
you  there  the  things  that  are  appointed  for  you  to  do.'  " 

So  Saul  stood  up,  opened  his  eyes — and  could  not 
see.  Damascus,  the  whole  plain,  the  white  crest  of 
Hermon,  the  green  of  the  orchards — all  were  gone. 
He  groped,  but  could  not  find  his  way.  As  they  saw 
his  hands  vainly  reaching  for  a  hold,  those  who  were 


THE  GREAT  ADVENTURE  81 

with  him  realised  that  he  was  blind.  They  put  out 
their  hands  to  his,  and  led  him  over  the  last  league 
of  his  journey. 

Saul  was  shut  in  on  himself.  He  could  not  look  out 
on  the  sights  of  the  roadside  nor  return  the  glances  of 
the  curious  peasants  who  gazed  at  this  white-robed 
,young  Rabbi  being  led  along  the  road.  There  was 
only  one  thing  that  he  could  see,  and  it  was  burned  in 
on  his  brain  in  that  blaze  that  smote  him  to  his 
knees.  He  had  seen  that  Vision  after  which  nothing 
could  ever  be  the  same  again — 

"  The  light  of  the  glory  of  God 
In  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

His  brain,  the  mind  that  had  been  so  confident  of 
itself,  reeled  at  the  thought  of  what  it  all  meant. 
Jesus  the  Nazarene  was  alive — alive;  and  had  con- 
quered him — Saul,  the  brilliant  Law  graduate,  the 
young  Rabbi,  the  rising  hope  of  the  Pharisees.  Under 
his  mantle  he  felt  again  that  crisp  roll — the  High 
Priest's  letter  to  the  synagogue  priests,  telling  them 
to  help  Saul  in  haling  the  Nazarenes  off  to  prison. 
And  now — there  was  no  mistaking  it — he  himself  was 
a  Nazarene — new-born. 

"He  knew  that  Christ  had  given  him  birth 
To  brother  all  the  souls  on  earth." 

In  that  hour  when  he  staggered  toward  Damascus 
with  wide,  unseeing  eyes,  did  an  inner  picture  come 
back  on  him? — a  furious  crowd  outside  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem;  men  stooping  to  pick  up  jagged  stones, 
the  air  thick  with  missiles,  a  face  looking  up  and  a 
voice,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."     Not  even 


82  IN  TRAINING 

blindness  could  blot  out  that  awful  picture  of  him- 
self, Saul,  standing  by,  and  backing  those  who  were 
slaying  Stephen.  And  now  he  himself,  like  Stephen, 
was  a  Nazarene. 

The  sound  of  the  echo  of  his  own  footsteps  told 
Saul  that  he  was  passing  under  an  arch  of  the  city 
gate.  He  heard  the  steps  and  voices  of  the  crowds 
going  to  and  fro  up  the  footway;  the  grind  of 
chariot  wheels  and  clatter  of  hoofs  in  the  road.  He 
felt  the  cooler  shadow  of  the  covered  way.  Then  his 
companions  stopped,  and  knocked  at  a  doorway,  which 
was  opened.  Saul  was  led  into  the  house  of  a 
Damascene  Jew,  Judas. 

From  the  roof  of  that  house  a  man  making  his 
evening  prayer  toward  Jerusalem  would  see  the  sun 
dropping  behind  the  purpling  shoulders  of  Hermon. 
It  was  sunset  in  Damascus.  But  it  was  dawn  in  the 
life  of  Saul. 


VIII 
THE  UNTRAVELLED  WORLD 

ON  a  rug  on  the  floor,  motionless,  seeing  nothing, 
eating  and  drinking  nothing,  Saul  began  to 
grope  his  way  in  the  new  life  that  had  begun. 
He  was  in  a  luminous  darkness,  dazed  with  light. 
Men  said  he  was  blind — and  truly  his  eyes  were  sight- 
less— yet  he  himself  knew  that  he  really  saw  now  for 
the  first  time. 

The  face  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth — it  was  the  one 
unfading  vision  before  his  poor  sightless  eyes.  In 
that  face  Saul  saw,  in  the  sound  of  that  voice  in  his 
ears,  he  heard  infinite  Power  and  triumphant  Love. 
He  was  dizzy  with  a  new  happiness;  the  consuming 
fire  of  his  love  and  worship  for  the  Christ  burned 
in  him ;  the  Christ  Who,  through  the  power  of  God, 
had  conquered  death,  and  had  then,  with  incredible 
mercy,  called  Saul  the  persecutor  himself  to  His 
service. 

Saul  had  harried  the  Nazarenes  as  blasphemers  be- 
cause they  declared  that  the  impossible  had  happened 
in  the  peasant  Jesus; — but  now  he  knew  that  it  was 
true !  For  weal  or  woe,  come  prison  or  scourge,  ston- 
ing or  exile  or  the  cross  itself,  he,  Saul,  was  Christ's 
man.  Now  he  understood  why  those  Nazarenes  al- 
ways glowed  with  an  inner  light.  This  was  the  secret 
of  Stephen's  radiant  face,  even  while  the  stones  beat 

83 


84  IN  TRAINING 

him  to  the  earth.  Nothing  could  separate  him  from 
the  love  of  Christ.  Then  his  hand  went  to  his  breast 
where  the  parchment  lay.  What  an  impossible  change 
had  come !  This  letter  rolled  up  in  his  robe,  which  he 
fingered  but  could  not  see,  this  authority  to  put  the 
Nazarenes  in  Damascus  in  chains — it  was  just  so  much 
waste  parchment — must  be  torn  up.  It  belonged  to  a 
dead  past.  Really  it  had  become  an  authority  to  put 
himself  in  prison! 

What,  also,  of  his  career  as  a  rabbi  at  Jerusalem? 
That  was  ended  for  ever.  What  would  Gamaliel 
think — and  say — when  he  heard  that  his  brilliant 
pupil,  the  hope  of  Pharisaism,  had  turned  Nazarene? 
And  his  own  people  at  Tarsus — his  stern  father,  the 
Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees — would  he  ever  speak  to  his 
son  again?  Yet  Saul  was — in  all  this  turmoil  of 
thoughts— dizzy,  not  with  sorrow,  but  with  a  new 
happiness.  He  felt  as  though  he  had  been  let  out 
of  a  dark,  lifelong  prison  and  had  found  a  glorious 
liberty  in  a  new  unexplored  land. 

The  great  blinding  Vision  that  had  come  to  him  on 
the  ridge  was 

"...  An  arch,  wherethrough 
Gleamed  the  untravelled  world." 


The  first  task,  then,  was  to  explore  this  new  vast 
continent  of  thought,  and  to  do  this  with  the  greatest 
of  all  Companions. 

Day  after  day  he  brooded  there  in  his  blindness. 
At  last,  as  he  sat  thinking,  a  footstep  came  into  the 
room,  and  the  swish  of  a  man's  robe  reached  his  quick 


THE  UNTRAVELLED  WORLD  85 

cars.  Saul  sat  silent.  He  felt  mysterious  hands, 
out  of  the  darkness,  laid  on  his  head. 

"  Brother  Saul,"  the  words  dropped  on  his  ears 
gratefully.  Then  followed  the  sudden  and  unexpected 
words,  "  Receive  your  sight,  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit." 

In  that  moment  scales  seemed  to  drop  from  his 
eyes.  He  looked  up  and  saw  before  him  a  Jew  of 
Damascus — a  follower  of  Jesus — named  Ananias,  who 
told  Saul  he  was  to  be  a  witness  to  everyone  that 
Jesus  was,  indeed,  sent  by  God. 

How  could  Saul  do  this?  He  knew — indeed,  it 
seemed  to  him  to  be  the  only  thing  that  he  did  know — 
that  Jesus,  Who  spoke  to  him  on  the  road,  was  the 
Son  of  God ;  but  how  to  explain  it  all,  to  make  other 
people  understand — that  was  the  problem.  Why,  he 
had  come  to  Damascus  to  clap  chains  on  people  for 
saying  this  very  thing. 

He  must  be  alone  to  think  it  all  out.  He  took  some 
food  and  was  strong  again.  After  he  had  spent  a  little 
time  with  Ananias  and  the  other  disciples  in  Damas- 
cus, he  took  his  travelling  staff,  girded  up  his  robe 
and  went  out.  He  found  himself  in  the  splendid 
colonnade  of  a  great  Roman  street.  It  was  called 
"  Straight "  street,  because  it  stretched  like  an  arrow 
right  across  Damascus  from  east  to  west. 

Saul  stood  in  the  shadow  of  the  covered  footway 
and  saw  Roman  chariots  rattling  over  the  broad, 
flagged  central  way.  The  chariots  were  held  up  here 
and  there  by  strings  of  camels  coming  in  from  the 
east  gate — the  "  Ship  of  the  Desert "  rolling  into  the 
port  of  Damascus.    Donkeys  passed — each  laden  with 


86  IN  TRAINING 

a  rick  of  withes  for  making  baskets — till  Saul  could 
see  only  the  long  ears  and  the  head  of  each  ass  peer- 
ing out  from  the  great  arch  of  twigs.  Looking  down 
the  great  avenue  with  its  rows  of  marble  columns, 
between  the  footpaths  and  the  central  chariot  way, 
he  saw  a  triumphal  arch  spanning  the  street,  with 
triple  ways  passing  beneath  it. 

Saul  turned  eastward  and  passed  along  the  footway. 
The  plash  of  water  in  fountains  sounded  gratefully 
cool  in  his  ears.  He  would  look  in  and  see  the  mottled 
moving  reflection  of  the  pool  on  the  cloistered  vault- 
ing of  the  courtyard  of  some  great  Roman's  house. 
Water — there  seemed  to  be  unlimited  water  in  Damas- 
cus— here,  even  on  the  very  edge  of  the  desert,  while 
in  Jerusalem  they  were  obliged,  like  misers,  to  store 
the  rains  in  their  great  underground  cisterns.  Whence 
this  .plenty? 

He  would  learn  that  out  from  under  the  mountains 
west  of  the  city 

"  .    .    .a  sacred  river  ran 
Through  caverns  measureless  to  man." 

It  was  the  ancient  Abana,  which  made  and  makes 
Damascus.  For  this  river  has  saved  all  that  plain 
from  being  desert — watering  her  lovely  orchards  of 
figs  and  pomegranate,  her  vineyards  of  purple  grapes, 
her  plantations  of  cool  green  melons. 

Olive-faced  Jews,  sturdy  Roman  soldiers,  weather- 
beaten  Arabs  from  the  desert,  brown-faced  boys  on 
their  way  to  school,  as  each  went  about  his  own  busi- 
ness, wove  in  and  out  the  moving  threads  of  the  tapes- 
try of  the  street. 


SAUL  IX  Till-:  srKi;i;r  called  straight,  Damascus 
"  He  was  to  be  a  witness  ...  to  all  these." 


THE  UNTRAVELLED  WORLD  87 

He  was  to  be  a  witness  (Ananias  had  said) — not 
against,  but  for  Jesus,  to  all  people. 

"To  all  these?" 

The  question  must  have  framed  itself  in  Saul's  mind 
as  he  gazed  at  the  medley  of  peoples. 

Saul  went  under  the  rounded  arch  of  the  east  gate, 
and — without  companion — walked  out  toward  the  low 
purple  hills  seven  leagues  away  on  the  edge  of  the 
desert.  He  wanted  to  be  entirely  alone,  to  go  out 
into  the  desert  and  there  discover  what  he  was  to  do 
with  his  future.  He  could  think  this  out,  not  in  the 
rush  of  the  Roman  city  of  Damascus,  but  in 

"  The  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky, 
The  peace  that  is  among  the  lonely  hills ;  " 

where  he  could  hear  the  Voice  speaking  within  him. 

So  he  went  out  into  the  yellow  sandy  wastes  of 
Arabia.  There,  in  some  oasis  of  the  desert,  maybe, 
under  a  palm  tree  by  a  little  well,  he  sat  and,  like  a 
great  explorer,  went 

"  Voyaging  on  strange  seas  of  thought 
Alone." 

He  plunged  into  virgin  forests  of  thought  and  cut 
his  way  through  where  no  one  had  gone,  throwing 
bridges  across  deep  chasms  that  no  man  had  ever 
crossed  before — chasms  like  that  bottomless  ravine 
between  Law  and  Love.  The  thoughts  which  he 
worked  out  then  have  guided  what  men  have  believed 
all  through  the  centuries  since.  It  was  a  difficult  ex- 
ploring for  Saul,  who,  like  a  scout,  went  ahead  of  the 
army  to  spy  out  the  new  land. 


88  IN  TRAINING 

Some  beliefs  that  Saul  had  always  had  from  a  boy 
he  held  even  after  his  meeting  with  Jesus, 

He  had  always  believed  that  God  is  all-wise,  all- 
good,  all-powerful.  He  now  held  this  in  a  deeper, 
truer  way  than  before. 

He  had  always  believed  that  he  must  be  obedient 
to  God  absolutely  and  do  His  will.  He  now  felt  a 
tingling  joy  in  this  obedience,  because  he  saw  that 
God  is  Love. 

He  had  always  believed  that  God  had  promised  to 
send  the  Messiah,  the  Saving  Prince,  to  rule  the 
people ;  and  that  God  would  keep  that  promise.  Now 
he  knew  that  the  promise  had  been  kept — only  in  a 
surprising  and  glorious  way,  as  high  above  all  that  he 
had  expected  as  the  heavens  were  higher  than  the 
earth. 

Some  af  Saul's  new  thoughts  came  from  the  old 
root  of  his  boy-ideas,  but  were  utterly  changed;  like 
those  shining,  nodding  anemones  he  saw  on  the  road- 
side, which  had  sprung  from  hard,  brown,  unattractive 
roots. 

All  his  life,  for  instance,  from  the  days  when  he 
sat  writing  with  his  finger  on  the  sand-strewn  floor 
of  the  school  at  Tarsus,  he  had  believed  that  the  Law 
of  Moses  was  to  govern  every  hour  of  every  day  of 
his  life,  from  washing  his  hands  in  the  morning  to 
taking  ofif  his  sandals  at  night.  God  was  like  a  great 
Headmaster  who  made  rules  for  His  school,  but  the 
students  never  saw  His  face.  Moses  had  received 
the  Law  for  the  school  from  God,  and  the  Rabbis 
(like  Gamaliel)  as  assistant  masters  in  the  school  had 
added  more  laws,  till  now  they  were  endless. 


THE  UNTRAVELLED  WORLD  89 

Saul  had  been  so  mad  against  Jesus  and  His  fol- 
lowers, just  because  he  believed  that  the  Nazarenes 
were  breaking  all  the  rules  of  the  great  School  of  God 
— the  School  in  which  Saul  was  training  to  become 
an  assistant  master. 

But  now — Jesus  was  actually,  radiantly,  gloriously 
alive,  and  had  met  Saul,  and  Saul  knew  that  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  he  saw  the  face  of  the  Head  of  the 
School  Himself.  And  the  Face  was  Love.  The  one 
rule  in  the  whole  School  was  the  commandment, 
"  Love  one  another." 

"That  commandment,"  Jesus  had  Himself  said, 
"  is  all  the  Law." 

The  other  great  thoughts  that  came  to  Saul  he  will 
tell  us  himself  later  as  we  go  over  the  seas  and  moun- 
tains with  him.  All  we  need  remember  now  is  that 
Jesus,  the  heroic,  loving  Son  of  God,  fearless,  pure  and 
strong,  stern  to  the  proud,  and  tender  and  healing  to 
the  weak  and  sick,  was  now  Saul's  Hero  and  Saviour. 
Saul,  henceforth,  simply  lived  to  fight  his  good  fight 
under  the  stormy  banner  of  Jesus  Christ. 

As,  after  his  long  time  of  thinking  and  prayer,  Saul 
again  pulled  his  leather  girdle  tighter  and  started  his 
walk  back  from  Arabia  to  Damascus,  he  knew  quite 
well  that  he  was  in  for  a  long,  perilous  fight.  The 
Jews  would  be  as  "exceedingly  mad"  against  him 
as  he  himself  had  been  against  Stephen  and  the  others. 
They  would  imprison,  scourge,  stone  him.  It  would 
have  been  so  easy  to  many  men  to  slip  away  into 
some  other  part  of  the  Roman  empire  and  keep  quiet; 
but  not  for  Saul.    He  turned  his  face  toward  Damas- 


90  IN  TRAINING 

cus  and  Jerusalem — the  places  where  the  hate  against 
him  would  be  hottest. 

He  walked  across  the  desert  again  till,  at  last,  he 
came  to  the  walls  of  Damascus;  and  would  see  the 
soldier  on  sentry-go  at  the  east  gate — armed  from 
head  to  foot.  "I  too"  (Saul  told  himself)  "must 
put  on  the  armour." 

"  Hold  your  ground,"  he  would  say  to  himself,  as 
he  later  said  to  others : 

"  Tighten  the  belt  of  truth  about  you ; 

"  Wear  straightness  as  your  coat  of  mail ; 

"  Have  your  feet  shod  with  the  strong  shoes  of 
peace ; 

"  Take  faith  as  your  shield ; 

"  Put  the  helmet  of  saving  on  your  head, 

"  And  grasp  in  your  hand  your  broadsword — the 
Word  of  God." 

So  he  passed  in  under  that  Damascus  gate,  through 
which  he  was  never  to  come  out  again.  For  men  who 
thirsted  for  his  blood  were  soon  to  watch  at  all  the 
gates  of  Damascus,  day  and  night. 


IX 

THE  TWO  ESCAPES 

SAUL  lost  no  time  in  going  to  the  Damascus  syna- 
gogues and  preaching  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of 
God — to  the  amazement  of  his  hearers. 
"Can  we  believe  our  eyes  and  ears?"  they  asked 
one  another.  "  Is  this  not  the  man  who  harried  the 
people  in  Jerusalem  who  called  on  this  Name;  the 
very  man  who  came  here  on  purpose  to  carry  them 
all  off  in  chains  to  Caiaphas?  " 

Argument,  protest,  threats,  only  made  Saul  all  the 
more  vigorous.  The  disappointment  and  fury  of  the 
Jews  living  in  Damascus  grew  ungovernable — Saul 
was  a  turncoat,  a  renegade,  a  traitor,  a  mad  blas- 
phemer. The  word  of  the  Law  that  Saul  had  turned 
against  Stephen  they  now  turned  on  him: 

"  Your  eye  shall  not  pity  him, 
You  shall  surely  slay  him." 

They  planned  to  assassinate  him.  Going  to  the 
King  of  the  City  (Aretas),  who  was  ruling  Damascus 
for  the  Roman  Emperor,  they  managed  to  persuade 
him  to  set  a  guard  against  Saul's  escaping.  At  every 
gate  of  the  city  stood  figures,  with  deadly  knife  con- 
cealed, waiting  for  him.  Day  and  night  the  grim, 
sleepless  watch  went  on  for  the  blood  of  Saul. 

How  could  he  escape  ?    All  round  the  city  stretched 

91 


92  IN  TRAINING 

the  high  unbroken  walls.  It  seemed  that  the  life  of 
Saul,  like  the  life  of  Stephen,  must  end  under  a  hail 
of  stones.  But,  built  right  into  and  on  the  high,  broad 
walls  of  Damascus  city,  were  houses  with  windows 
that  sometimes  actually  hung  over  the  edge.  The 
owner  of  one  of  these  houses  was  a  Nazarene.  So  a 
line  of  escape  was  planned.  Under  cover  of  the  dark, 
and,  shrouded  in  his  Jewish  travelling  cloak,  Saul 
climbed  up  and  crept  into  the  house  of  this  disciple. 
He  went  into  a  room  and  peered  out  of  the  window. 

All  was  silent  save  for  the  weird  howl  of  a  distant 
jackal  on  the  edge  of  the  orchards  and  the  grunt  of  a 
sleeping  camel.  Overhead  the  stars  made  tiny  quiver- 
ing points  in  the  intense  darkness  of  the  sky.  Looking 
down  through  the  blackness,  Saul  tried  to  gauge  the 
depth  from  the  window  to  the  ground. 

"  Here  are  the  rope  and  the  basket,"  said  one, 
pointing  to  a  deep  round  rush  basket  with  a  stout  rope 
tied  to  the  strong  handles. 

They  knelt  down,  and  the  voice  of  Saul  rose  in 
prayer  to  God  for  Damascus,  for  the  men  in  the  city 
who  were  trying  to  kill  him  and  for  his  own  safe 
journeying.  The  flickering  flame  of  the  little  baked 
clay  lamp  was  put  out,  so  that  no  watcher  should  see 
them  as  they  slung  the  basket  from  the  window  and 
Saul  lowered  himself  into  it. 

Having  listened  for  the  last  time  for  sign  or  sound 
of  enemies,  slowly,  foot  by  foot  they  let  down  the 
basket.  Saul,  whose  strong  hands  practised  in  tent- 
making  knew  how  to  grip  a  rope,  held  on  tightly 
till  he  felt  the  ground  under  the  basket.  Stepping 
on  to  the  ground  and  shaking  the  rope  to  give  his 


PAULS   ESCAPE  FROM    DAMASCUS 
"  Foot  by  foot  they  let  down  the  basket." 


THE  TWO  ESCAPES  93 

friends  a  farewell  signal  to  draw  in  the  basket  again, 
he  turned  his  face  southward  and  set  out  through 
the  darkness  alone.  By  the  time  the  dawn  came  up 
over  his  left  shoulder  he  would  have  crossed  the  plain 
and  reached  the  Place  of  Shining,  where  Jesus  had 
come  to  Saul  in  that  blaze  of  light  on  His  way  to 
Damascus. 

He  was  going  back  to  Jerusalem  along  the  road 
up  which  we  followed  him  when  he  came  as  the 
scourge  of  the  Nazarenes,  Now  he  was  flying  as 
the  persecuted  disciple  of  Jesus.  He  was  stepping 
out  of  the  dangers  of  Damascus  into  the  greater  perils 
of  Jerusalem.  As  he  went  down  past  Hermon  and 
came  at  last  in  sight  of  the  silent  hills,  where  the  steep 
place  of  Gadara  runs  down  into  the  shining,  busy 
Lake,  everything  would  seem  different.  Then  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  was,  to  him,  the  haunt  of  the  Great 
Pretender;  now  it  was  the  place  where  the  Jesus, 
Who  was  Saul's  Lord,  had  sailed  and  spoken. 

"  Clear  silver  water  in  a  cup  of  gold, 
Under  the  sunlit  steeps  of  Gadara, 
It  shines — His  Lake — the  Sea  of  Chinnereth — 
The  waves  He  loved,  the  waves  that  kissed  His  feet 
So  many  blessed  days.    O  happy  waves ! 
O  little,  silver,  happy  sea,  far-famed, 
Under  the  sunlit  steeps  of  Gadara." 

Passing  on  through  Samaria  and  the  hills  of  Judaea 
he  at  length  came  out  in  sight  of  the  walls  of  Jerusa- 
lem (the  walls  under  which  he  had  watched  Stephen 
stoned),  and  of  the  roof  of  the  Temple  where  Gama- 
liel still  sat  in  honour  among  the  Rabbis.  Saul  knew 
that  the  ferocity  of  hate  which  he  himself  had  stirred 


94  IN  TRAINING 

up  among  the  strict  Jews  would  now  break  out  against 
himself.  What  he  would  hardly  expect  was  that  the 
Nazarene  disciples  themselves  would  give  him  the  cold 
shoulder.     Yet  so  it  happened. 

It  was  natural,  after  all,  that  they  should  be  afraid 
of  him.  They  knew  of  old  the  fiery  Saul  with  his 
quick  wit  and  his  passion  against  the  Nazarenes.  Cer- 
tainly he  was  now  declaring  that  he  belonged  to  their 
sect;  was  asking  to  join  them  as  a  baptised  Nazarene, 
declaring  that  he  had  the  Holy  Spirit  within  him. 
But  (th^y  asked  themselves)  was  it  not  just  one  more 
crafty  attempt  to  spy  out  their  lives  and  use  the  evi- 
dence as  a  witness  for  destroying  them  ?  So  they  held 
aloof  from  Saul;  they  were  afraid  of  him.  He  was 
forsaken  by  Pharisee  and  Nazarene.  He  stood  where 
his  Master  had  stood — all  alone. 

There  was  in  Jerusalem  a  man  from  Cyprus,  a  Jew 
with  a  face  of  great  power  and  patience,  older  than 
Saul,  called  Barnabas.  He  was  so  enthusiastic  as  a 
Nazarene  that  he  had  sold  the  land  he  owned,  and  had 
given  it  into  the  common  fund  for  helping  the  poorer 
disciples.  Barnabas  had  wider  ideas  than  some  of 
the  other  Nazarenes  in  Jerusalem,  so  he  went  to 
Saul,  and,  after  a  talk  with  him,  he  was  so  convinced 
that  he  was  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus  that  he  took  him  to 
Peter  and  the  other  apostles  (as  the  leaders  whom 
Jesus  had  chosen  were  called).^ 

They  all  stood  and  sat  round  him,  while  with  glow- 
ing face  Saul  told  them  the  story  you  have  read; — 
how,  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  Jesus  had  spoken  to 

'  Apostle  (from  the  Greek  a?ro  cteHu)  means  "one  who  is  sent 
forth,"  like  our  word  "  missionary  "  from  "  mitto,"  I  send. 


THE  TWO  ESCAPES  95 

him,  and  he  had  spoken  about  Jesus  in  Damascus,  and 
the  Jews  had  lain  in  wait  to  take  and  kill  him.  As  they 
listened,  Peter  and  John  and  James  and  the  others 
could  see  in  every  line  of  Saul's  face,  in  the  passion 
in  his  eyes  and  could  hear  in  the  sound  of  his  voice, 
that  he  was  a  follower  of  Jesus. 

A  slave  of  a  great  Roman  (and  there  were  many  of 
them  in  such  a  city  as  Jerusalem)  usually  had  a  mark 
branded  on  his  skin  with  a  hot  iron  to  show  that  he 
belonged  to  a  certain  master.  There  could  be  no  mis- 
take about  it.  Saul's  whole  character  was  now  marked 
like  that.    As  he  said  later  himself : 

"  I  bear  branded  on  my  body  the  owner's  stamp  of 
Jesus."  ^ 

Nor  did  Saul  try  to  keep  quiet  for  safety's  sake. 
He  went  among  the  very  people  whom  he  had  raised 
up  against  Stephen;  into  the  synagogues  where  he 
himself  had  argued  against  Stephen,  and  there  spoke 
with  all  his  power  for  Jesus.  The  effect  was  electrical. 
Astonishment  gave  way  to  anger,  anger  deepened  into 
hate,  and  in  their  hate,  the  Jews  (even  those  from 
foreign  lands)  planned  secretly  to  capture,  imprison, 
and  kill  Saul.  Someone — perhaps  an  old  fellow- 
student  of  Saul's,  who  had  heard  them  plotting  against 
his  life  down  in  the  Temple — told  the  apostles  that 
Saul  was  to  be  killed. 

What  was  to  be  done?  Simon,  Barnabas,  Saul 
and  the  other  friends  got  together  for  a  talk.  Damas- 
cus in  the  north  and  Jerusalem  in  the  south  (the  two 
great  cities  of  Syria  and  Palestine)  were  now  closed 
to  him.     A  highly  educated  graduate  like  Saul  was 

»  Gal.  vi.  17. 


96  IN  TRAINING 

not  well  fitted — as  the  fiery  fisherman  Peter  was — to 
speak  to  the  village  people  among  the  hills  and  in 
the  Lake-country.  He  must  go  out  of  the  land — 
at  any  rate  for  the  present.  He  would  go  home  to 
Tarsus. 

No  sooner  was  the  decision  made  than  they  prepared 
quietly  to  go  part  of  the  way  with  him.  Filling  their 
leather  bottles  and  their  food-scrips,  the  little  band 
took  up  their  cloaks  and  staves.  They  managed  to  get 
Saul  unobserved  past  the  Damascus  gate  out  on  to  the 
northern  road.  He  had  made  his  second  escape  from 
his  enemies. 

Going  north  for  some  time,  the  road  then  forked 
to  the  left  and  carried  them  diagonally  toward  the 
coast.  Resting  at  noon  under  the  shelter  of  an  olive 
tree,  or  at  a  rest-house,  they  tramped  on  for  fifty 
miles,  talking  of  their  plans  for  the  future.  It  may 
well  be.  that,  as  they  went  down  from  the  hills  and 
came  first  in  sight  of  the  Great  Sea  shining  away  to 
the  west,  Barnabas  would  lay  his  hand  on  the  shoulder 
of  his  younger  friend,  and  tell  Saul  that  the  time  would 
surely  come  when  they  two  would  go  out  together  on 
a  great  campaign. 

There  ahead  of  them,  Paul  and  his  friends  would  see 
the  columns  of  a  marble  temple  that  Herod  had  built 
on  the  rising  ground.  It  was  Csesarea — the  town  of 
Caesar — the  Roman  capital  of  Palestine.  Coming  over 
the  low  ridge  they  saw  the  stadium,  and  beyond  it  for 
nearly  two  miles  the  streets  of  Csesarea,  through  which 
Saul  made  his  way  to  the  harbour-side. 

In  the  harbour,  protected  from  the  gales  of  the  sea 
by  the  great  crescent-shaped  breakwater,  the  rippling 


THE  TWO  ESCAPES  97 

water  lapped  against  the  sides  of  ships  from  Egypt 
and  Rome,  Athens  and  Cyprus,  Tyre  and  Sidon  and 
Tarsus.  Over  all  and  in  the  middle  of  the  double- 
curved  harbour  the  grim,  strong  Roman  citadel  was 
built. 

Finding  in  harbour  a  ship  bound  for  Tarsus,  Saul 
took  his  passage  home  in  her.  Soon  the  rudder 
paddles  were  unlashed  and  the  oar  sweeps  put  out 
to  row  the  ship  from  the  harbour,  round  the  tower  at 
the  breakwater  end,  into  the  open  sea.  The  mainsail 
was  hoisted;  and  Saul  found  himself  coasting  north- 
ward, past  Ptolemais  Tyre  and  Sidon,  with  the  forests 
of  masts  in  their  harbours,  on  his  way  to  his  old  home, 
Tarsus. 

The  last  time  he  had  taken  that  journey  he  was  a 
confident  young  student  with  all  the  world  of  learning 
at  his  feet,  a  Law  career  before  him.  Now  he  was 
flying  from  the  anger  of  the  men  who  had  thought  of 
him  as  the  rising  star  of  their  party  at  Jerusalem.  Yet 
we  can  well  believe  that  his  whole  being  was  as 
buoyant  as  the  ship  on  whose  deck  he  stood  watching 
the  sunset  over  the  sea ;  for  no  persecution  nor  distance 
could  separate  him  from  his  Unseen  Companion — 
Whose  he  was  and  Whom  he  now  lived  to  serve. 

Gazing  over  the  bow  of  the  ship  he  saw,  at  length, 
the  long  low  line  of  the  plain  where  he  was  born, 
with  the  ridge  of  the  mountains  beyond.  Right  ahead 
was  the  mouth  of  the  river.  As  they  sailed  into  the 
estuary,  the  galley-men  were  ordered  to  their  benches. 
The  oars  were  loosed.  The  blades  dipped  and  flashed 
in  the  water  of  the  Cydnus,  and  the  oars  groaned  as 
the  ship  slowly  forged  her  way  up-stream.    Then  the 


98  IN  TRAINING 

river  opened  out  into  the  Lake  Harbour  which  Saul 
knew  so  well. 

No  sooner  was  she  made  fast  at  the  harbour-side, 
than  Saul  would  be  ashore  and  making  his  way  up 
into  the  City  of  Tarsus.  We  do  not  know  whether 
his  mother  or  father  was  alive  to  greet  him.  Certainly 
if  his  father  was  alive  he — as  a  strict  Pharisee — 
would  be  horrified  at  the  new  teaching  that  his  son  had 
accepted.  There  are  some  reasons  to  believe — though 
certainty  is  quite  impossible — that  his  father  was  so 
furious  that  he  turned  Saul  out  of  house  and  home 
into  absolute  poverty. 

If  he  did  this,  it  would  come  as  a  terrible,  though 
not  unexpected,  blow  to  Saul.  With  all  his  own  high 
temper,  he  was  as  sensitive  as  he  was  passionate.  He 
would  feel  the  wound  of  his  father's  anger  like  the 
cut  of  a  whip.  But  he  would  turn  his  hands  to  the 
labour  of  tent-making,  and  his  speech  to  the  story  of 
Jesus  Christ.  He  was  learning  the  secret  of  being 
content  in  plenty  and  hunger,  in  wealth  and  poverty. 

"  In  Him  Who  strengthens  me,"  he  declared,  "  I  am 
ready  for  anything." 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  EAST 

ONE  day,  some  seven  years  later,  a  man  came  into 
the  city  of  Tarsus  with  a  look  of  inquiry  in  his 
eyes  as  he  searched  the  faces  of  those  who  met 
him  in  the  streets. 

He  was  a  traveller — a  stranger  to  Tarsus ;  but  that 
would  not  seem  unusual  to  the  people  in  that  great 
city,  where  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world  were 
going  to  and  fro  every  day.  He  made  inquiries  among 
the  Jews,  and,  at  last,  he  was  directed  to  the  house 
where  Saul  was  living.  Saul,  as  his  eyes  turned  to 
this  strange  visitor,  would  scan  his  face  curiously  for 
a  moment,  then : 

"  Barnabas ! "  Saul  would  cry,  as  he  leapt  to  his 
feet  to  welcome  his  old  comrade. 

It  was,  indeed,  that  splendid  Cypriote  Jew,  who, 
you  remember,  had  years  before  sold  his  land  for  the 
great  cause,  and  had  been  the  first  to  grasp  Saul's 
hand  as  he  came  a  refugee  from  Damascus  to  cold 
Jerusalem. 

When  Barnabas  had  rested  a  little  and  washed  after 
travel,  the  two  comrades  sat  down  to  talk.  Saul  lis- 
tened with  growing  eagerness  as  Barnabas  told  him 
why  he  had  come  to  find  him  in  Tarsus. 

**  I  have  come  from  Antioch  in  Syria,"  Barnabas 
would  say.     "  Wonderful  things  are  happening  there. 

99 


100  IN  TRAINING 

When  I  was  at  Jerusalem  men  came  to  us  from 
Antioch  with  a  strange  story.  They  said  that  the 
Brethren  from  Cyprus  and  North  Africa  had  been 
preaching  in  Antioch,  not  to  the  Jews  only,  but  even 
to  the  Greeks.  And  the  Greeks — many  of  them — 
have  actually  given  up  their  gods  of  marble  and  ivory 
and  silver  and  have  turned  and  become  disciples. 

"  So  I  went  up  through  the  country  all  the  way  to 
Antioch  and  told  them  to  grip  hold  of  the  faith  with  all 
their  power. 

"  But  there  are  so  many  of  them  in  Antioch  that 
I  am  not  able  to  give  them  all  the  teaching  in  the 
Way  that  they  need.  And  there  are  many,  many  more 
to  be  shown  the  Way  and  the  Truth.  So  I  have 
come  for  you  to  join  me  and  help  me.  Will  you 
come?  " 

Saul's  heart,  hand  and  voice  must  all  have  leapt  in 
response.  Would  he  go?  Why,  this  was  the  great 
call  he  had  been  listening  for  throughout  all  the  seven 
years  of  waiting,  the  years  of  quiet  work  in  and  round 
Tarsus. 

Rolling  up  his  mat  and  cloak,  and  getting  his  wallet 
and  bottle  and  staff,  he  would  swiftly  get  ready  to 
start  with  Barnabas  back  to  Antioch.  We  cannot  tell 
by  which  route  they  went,  for  they  could  go  by  sea 
or  by  land.  If  they  took  ship  in  the  harbour,  they 
would  be  rowed  down  on  the  stream.  Bearing  south- 
east, when  they  reached  the  open  sea,  the  coasting 
vessel  would  scud  across  the  gulf,  heading  for  the 
Syrian  coast.  All  day  she  would  sail,  and  by  the  time 
the  purple  sunset  was  lighting  the  tapering  cone  of 
Mount  Cassius  till  it  glowed  like  a  torch,  they  would 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  EAST  101 

run  in  between  the  towers  of  the  Seleucia  breakwaters 
into  the  outer  port,  and  thence  to  the  inner  basin  of 
the  calabash-shaped  harbour. 

In  the  morning  the  two  comrades  would  be  out  by 
dawn  from  the  harbour-city  of  Seleucia  to  start  their 
tramp  of  sixteen  miles  up  the  road  that  led  from  the 
port  to  the  metropolis — Antioch.  On  the  right  of  this 
road  was  the  River  Orontes  curving  like  a  serpent 
along  the  plain. 

If  they  went  from  Tarsus  by  land  they  would 
trudge  by  the  great  road  round  the  head  of  the  gulf, 
the  road  by  which  Alexander  the  Great  and  Xenophon 
had  both  passed  with  their  armies. 

The  muleteers  and  camel-drivers  would  find  them- 
selves outstripped  by  these  two  travelling  Jews,  who 
strode  along  with  cloaks  over  shoulders  and  robes  girt 
under  their  leather  belts,  in  order  to  give  their  legs 
freedom  for  walking. 

Saul's  face  would  glow  and  his  eyes  gleam  with 
sheer  happiness.  He  was  on  his  way  to  one  of  the 
three  greatest  cities  of  the  world,  tramping  by  the 
side  of  his  friend  Barnabas,  on  the  service  of  Him 
for  Whom  he  was  quite  ready  to  die  and  in  Whom  he 
gloried  to  live.  And  this  was  only  to  be  a  beginning 
of  adventures.     No  wonder  Saul  rejoiced. 

As  they  walked  on,  Barnabas  would  tell  Saul  that 
it  was  not  to  be  all  plain  sailing  for  them  in  their 
work  at  Antioch. 

"  These  Greeks,"  he  would  say,  "  have  the  Spirit 
in  them.  They  ^yalk  in  the  Way.  But  the  strict  Jews 
among  the  Brethren  (especially  down  at  Jerusalem)' 
say  that  these  newcomers  must  be  circumcised   (i.e. 


102  IN  TRAINING 

they  must  become  Jews)  before  they  can  really  join 
us.     I  say  '  No.'    What  do  you  think?  " 

It  does  not  seem  to  us  at  first  sight  very  exciting 
to  know  whether  Saul  said  "  Yes  "  or  "  No."  Yet, 
if  he  had  disagreed  with  Barnabas,  the  whole  history 
of  the  world  might  have  been  different,  and  our  own 
land  (and  therefore  we,  ourselves)  might  never  have 
heard  of  Jesus.  For  the  followers  of  Jesus — if  Saul 
had  sided  with  the  stricter  Jew-Nazarenes — might 
well  have  become  a  narrow  little  Jewish  clique. 

What  was  Saul's  answer  ?  From  the  words  that  he 
wrote  later  we  know  he  would  say  something  like 
this: 

"  The  Good  News  about  Jesus  is  the  saying  power 
both  to  the  Jew  and  the  Greek.  The  great  thing  is — 
not  that  men  should  be  circumcised,  but  that  each 
should  dedicate  his  whole  body  to  God,  as  the  Temple 
of  His  Spirit." 

In  such  talk  about  the  great  work  in  front  of  them, 
Barnabas  and  his  younger  colleague  Saul  would  at 
last  come  out  in  sight  of  the  walls  of  Antioch.  Pass- 
ing by  lovely  groves  of  myrtle  and  other  trees,  the  road 
curved  southward  just  where  it  came  out  on  the 
bridge  whose  four  round  arches  spanned  the  greatest 
stream  in  all  Syria — the  Orontes  River. 

In  front  of  Saul,  as  he  set  foot  on  the  bridge,  was 
the  frowning  wall  which  the  Romans  had  built  all 
along  the  river  front,  and  round  the  whole  city.  To 
his  left,  outside  the  walls,  lay  the  marble,  open-air 
Hippodrome.  Over  the  turreted  walls,  and  beyond 
the  plain  on  which  the  city  spread  itself,  he  saw  away 
to  the  south  the  high  bluffs  and  crests  of  mountains — 


PAUL  AND   BARNABAS   IN   ANTlOCIl 

"  '  They  are  Christians,'  said  one  man  to  another  as  they  saw  Saul  and 
Barnabas  pass  along  the  street." 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  EAST  103 

especially  the  stern  Mount  Sulpius,  where  the  goats 
leapt  up  the  ravines. 

Over  the  shoulder  of  this  mountain  the  Roman  wall 
ran,  dropping  into  defiles  and  leaping  again  up  the 
hillside  to  the  square,  forbidding  mass  of  the  citadel, 
where  the;  soldiers'  bugles  sounded  the  change  of 
sentries.  The  wall  ran  on,  past  the  citadel,  till  it 
dropped  into  the  plain  and  swept  round,  completing 
the  circle  on  the  bank  of  the  Orontes  at  the  bridge 
where  Saul  stood. 

Barnabas  and  Saul  walked  across  the  bridge — which 
was  the  first  of  five  bridges  that  crossed  the  River 
Orontes  at  Antioch.  They  joined  the  city  to  the  royal 
island  suburb,  where  the  palace  and  buildings  of  the 
Roman  nobles  glittered  in  the  sunshine.  Passing 
through  the  gateway  in  the  city  wall,  the  travellers 
came  at  once  on  all  the  hum  and  bustle  of  Antioch, 

In  the  centre  of  the  city  they  walked  into  the  most 
wonderful  street  in  the  world  of  that  day.  For  four 
miles  it  stretched  east  and  west,  one  shining  colonnade 
of  white  marble.  It  had  been  built  by  Herod.  Roman 
ladies  in  swinging  palanquins  borne  by  slaves,  shielded 
by  dainty  curtains  from  the  sun  and  from  the  dust 
of  the  streets;  and  droves  of  mules  bearing  figs  from 
Cyprus,  splendid  carvings  from  Greece,  books  from 
the  learned  cities  of  North  Africa,  or  purple  cloth  from 
the  world-famed  dyers  of  Tyre,  met  caravans  of 
dromedaries  tired  from  their  long  march  over  the 
sands  from  beyond  the  Euphrates  and  grunting  under 
their  loads  of  Persian  silks  and  of  dates. 

At  the  very  centre  of  the  city  where  the  great  street 
from  the  Palace  crossed  Herod's  street  of  marble, 


104.  IN  TRAINING 

Saul  came  on  the  city  square,  where  a  noble  statue 
of  Apollo  stood  for  the  worship  of  the  Romans. 

"  Here  is  Saul  the  Tarsian,"  Barnabas  would  tell 
the  other  Brothers  when  at  last  Saul  reached  Barna- 
bas' home. 

The  leaders  would  gather  to  meet  this  new  young 
colleague — men  like  Black  Simeon,  Lucius  from  Gy- 
rene in  North  Africa,  and  Manaen  (who  was  related 
to  Herod).  They  all  greeted  the  new  comrade,  and 
would  soon  find  that  Saul,  though  he  was  not  a  big, 
tall  man,  nor  very  striking  to  look  at,  was  a  far  abler 
speaker  than  their  old  friend  Barnabas.  But  Saul, 
with  his  dashing  temper,  had  not  yet  grown  so  steady 
and  wise  as  his  comrade.  One  wonderful  thing  they 
noticed  was  the  strange  intense  power  of  his  look, 
when  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  you  and  spoke. 

As  Saul  went  along  Herod's  marble  street  he  would 
notice  many  of  the  most  richly  dressed  people  going 
through  the  west  gate  of  the  city. 

"  That  is  the  Daphne  gate,"  they  told  him. 

As  he  went  through  the  gate  he  came  out  on  a  broad 
road  lined  with  splendid  Roman  villas  with  mosaic 
courtyards,  in  which  fountains  were  throwing  water 
from  the  heads  of  carved  dolphins  into  marble  basins. 
Paths  led  out  among  shaded  woods,  which  spread 
over  ten  miles  of  country  where  running  waters 
tinkled  down  the  glens  past  a  marble  temple,  whose 
pillars  could  be  seen  through  the  trees  in  a  green  open 
space.  In  the  temple  was  a  mighty  statue  of  Apollo, 
the  God  of  Light,  pouring  wine  from  a  golden  goblet.^ 

^  For  description  of  Daphne  see  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  chap,  xxiii. 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  EAST  105 

The  white  bodies  of  bathers  were  splashing  in  the 
water,  breaking  into  shining  ripples  the  dappled  sur- 
face of  sunshine  and  green  shadow.  It  all  looked 
beautiful;  and  yet,  when  Saul  saw  the  worshippers 
round  the  marble  statue,  he  could  see  from  their  loose 
lips  and  the  flabby  faces  of  many  of  them,  and  from 
their  leering  looks  and  foul  actions,  that  the  whole 
worship  was — like  the  life  at  Antioch — the  glittering 
surface  of  a  poisonous  pool.  The  languorous  coarse- 
ness of  the  East  had  mixed  with  the  physical  beauty 
of  the  Greek  and  the  brute  strength  of  the  Roman 
to  make  the  temple  festivals  scenes  of  beastliness. 

As  Saul  walked  back  through  the  groves  and  into 
Antioch  he  would  see  that  in  all  this  wide-spreading 
city  of  the  Plain  of  Sunshine  everyone  seemed  to  be 
set  on  making  all  the  money  that  he  could  and  then 
spending  it  on  pleasures.  She  was  rightly  called  "  the 
Heathen  Queen  " — Antioch  the  Beautiful — with  her 
head  on  the  mountain  crowned  with  the  citadel  and 
with  the  river  running  at  her  feet. 

The  Antiochenes  liked  to  see  sport,  but  were  too 
slack  and  flabby  to  go  in  for  athletic  games  themselves. 
They  paid  gladiators — great  prize-fighting  giants — to 
kill  each  other  and  to  fight  with  lions  for  their  amuse- 
ment. Slaves  carried  the  rich  citizens  down  to  the 
Hippodrome,  and  fanned  them,  while  they  watched 
the  shouting  charioteers  cracking  their  whips  as  they 
urged  the  straining  and  steaming  horses,  white  with 
foam,  round  the  oval  track. 

As  Saul  passed  along  the  street  he  saw  a  boy  with 
a  flask  of  oil  and  a  measure  of  wheat  going  toward 
a  little  temple ;  making  his  offering  to  the  idol  Apollo. 


106  IN  TRAINING 

And  he  would  hardly  know  how  to  hold  himself. 
There  was  the  statue  of  Apollo,  whom  the  Antiochenes 
specially  worshipped,  exquisitely  graceful,  "  icily  fault- 
less, splendidly  null  " ;  a  god  whose  story  was  interest- 
ing, but  could  help  no  boy  to  keep  his  life  clean.  Saul 
wanted  to  tell  that  boy  of  his  own  living  Hero,  strong 
and  resolute,  who  alone  could  lead  that  boy  into 
the  full  stature  of  manhood. 

Saul  looked  out  over  the  people  there  before  him, 
going  up  and  down  in  the  street.  He  saw  some  curi- 
ous, some  hard  and  sneering,  some  thirsty  in  spirit; 
olive-faced,  black-haired  Jewish  lads,  straight  from 
the  synagogue  school ;  black  negroes  and  bronze  Egyp- 
tians from  up  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  sturdy  Romans 
with  the  pride  of  the  all-conquering  Eagle  of  the  Em- 
pire in  every  gesture  and  in  the  lines  of  their  arro- 
gant faces ;  Greek  merchants,  swift  to  drive  a  bargain, 
yet  often  outwitted  by  those  slow,  silent  Arabs  whose 
faces  fringed  the  crowd — sun-scorched  and  mysterious 
as  the  tawny  desert  from  which  they  came. 

As  he  looked  over  the  sea  of  faces,  Saul  would  see 
that,  with  all  their  differences  of  colour  of  skin,  of 
language  and  country,  these  people  all  had  a  great 
dumb  need — groping  after  God  if  haply  they  might 
find  Him.    He  would  feel 

"...  with  a  thrill  the  intolerable  craving 
Shiver  throughout  him  like  a  trumpet  call. 
O  to  save  these,  to  perish  for  their  saving; 
Die  for  their  life;  be  offered  for  them  all." 

Saul  knew  by  this  time  that  the  Good  News  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  only  for  his  own  people,  the 
Jews.    There  in  Antioch  was  young  Titus,  the  Greek, 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  EAST  107 

and  many  others  who  worshipped  Christ.  Indeed, 
the  people  of  Antioch  began  to  see  that  these  strange 
new  people  had  only  one  common  bond — they  were  not 
of  one  race,  or  class;  but  they  all  worshipped  a  new 
God — an  unseen  Person  Who,  they  declared,  dwelt 
in  them,  named  Jesus  Christ. 

"  They  are  Christians,"  said  one  man  to  another  in 
the  crowd,  as  they  saw  Saul  and  Barnabas  pass  along 
the  street. 

So  the  Nazarenes  were  first  called  "  Christians  "  in 
Antioch. 


XI 

THE   CALL  ABROAD 

IN  the  cool,  dark  room  of  a  house  in  Antioch,  after 
the  work  of  the  day,  Barnabas  and  Saul  and  some 
friends  gathered  for  their  evening  meal. 
Tired,  as  they  were,  they  felt  the  glow  that  comes 
at  the  end  of  a  day  filled,  in  each  strenuous  minute, 
with  work  on  a  task  for  which  they  greatly  care.  But 
one  thing  was  lacking.  If  only  Jesus  could  be  there 
to  say  of  the  day's  work :  "  Well  done,  comrades !  " 

Peter  and  the  others  had  told  Barnabas  at  Jerusalem 
that — on. the  very  last  day  before  Jesus  was  crucified 
— He  had  supper  with  His  friends.  At  the  supper 
He  broke  bread  and  poured  out  wine  from  the  cup 
and  said: 

"  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  Me," 

and  then,  as  He  saw  their  crestfallen  looks  at  the 
thought  of  His  leaving  them,  He  tried  to  cheer 
them. 

"  The  world  will  see  Me  no  more,  but  you  will 
see  Me,"  He  said. 

So  in  Antioch  at  their  Supper,  Barnabas  and  Saul 
and  the  others  broke  the  thin  loaves,  handed  the  pieces 
of  bread  to  one  another,  and  passed  the  cup  from 
hand  to  hand  round  the  table  in  remembrance  of  Jesus 

108 


THE  CALL  ABROAD  109 

Christ.    As  they  did  this  and  spoke  of  Him,  they  knew 
that  He  was  really  there  in  the  fellowship  with  them. 

"  Nearer  to  them  than  breathing, 
Closer  than  hands  and  feet." 

If  any  one  of  them  broke  out  into  anger  with  an- 
other one  in  the  heat  and  rush  of  the  day's  work,  he 
made  it  up  at  the  Supper,  and  they  were  friends  again. 
They  remembered  too,  that  many  others  of  their 
friends  in  distant  places  were,  at  that  same  hour, 
breaking  the  bread  and  drinking  the  cup  at  the  com- 
mon table. 

Some  of  their  comrades  were  at  Jerusalem,  and 
many  in  the  little  white  villages  in  the  country.  Some 
sat  down  to  supper  after  washing  the  stain  of  the 
fishing-nets  from  their  hands  at  the  side  of  the  Lake 
of  Galilee,  while  others  had  gone  home  from  working 
on  ships  in  the  thronged  harbour  of  Sidon  or  from 
the  purple  dyeing-sheds  at  Tyre.  There  were  more 
fellow-Christians  across  the  sea,  trudging  home  from 
the  fig  orchards  on  the  lovely  island  of  Cyprus,  and 
others  from  tending  the  goats  on  the  hills  behind 
Tarsus. 

So  Saul  and  Barnabas  and  the  others  at  their  Sup- 
per in  Antioch  asked  God  for  good  to  come  to  all 
these  Brethren  wherever  they  were.  The  words  in 
which  they  prayed  were  something  like  these : 

"  As  this  broken  bread  was  scattered  as  corn  upon 
the  mountains;  and,  gathered  together^  became  one; 

"  So  let  Thy  Church  be  gathered  together  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth  into  Thy  religion. 


illO  IN  TRAINING 

"For  Thine  is  the  glory  and  power,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  for  ever."  ^ 


One  day  a  number  of  the  Brethren  came  to  Antioch 
all  tired  and  dusty.  They  had  travelled  all  the  way 
up  through  Palestine  and  Syria  to  Antioch. 

Among  them  was  a  man  named  Agabus,  who  had 
the  gift  of  telling  the  future. 

"  There  is  going  to  be  a  great  famine,"  he  said  to  the 
others.    "  Our  brothers  in  Judaea  will  be  starving." 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  They  could  not  stand  by 
in  Antioch  and  see  their  friends  die  of  hunger. 

"  We  must  save  up  a  fund  of  money,  so  that  we  can 
buy  food  for  them  when  the  famine  comes." 

So  the  disciples  put  aside  money  from  their  income 
— each  giving  as  he  was  able  to  afford.  The  money 
was  to  go  to  Jews ;  but  the  Greek  disciples  in  Antioch 
as  well  as  the  Jews  would  give  their  money,  for  since 
they  became  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  the  great  barrier 
was  broken  down  between  Jew  and  Greek. 

When  enough  money  had  been  collected,  it  was 
handed  over  to  Barnabas  and  Saul.  The  young  Greek 
Titus  was  also  sent  to  help  them.  A  Greek 
Christian  going  with  the  two  Jews  would  help  to  show 
the  Jewish  disciples  at  Jerusalem  what  they  had  not 
yet  realised,  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  be  a  Jew 
in  order  to  be  a  Christian. 

They  spent  the  money  in  corn,  and  perhaps  figs 
from  Cyprus  and  dates,  and  then  started  out  with 
their  precious  burden.     They  might  row  down  the 

*  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve. 


THE  CALL  ABROAD  111 

Orontes  or  ride  along  the  road  as  far  as  Seleucia 
harbour,  and  then  (taking  ship)  sail  down  the  coast 
to  the  harbour  at  Caesarea. 

As  Saul  came,  at  last,  in  sight  of  Jerusalem  it  must 
have  seemed  strange  to  be  coming  back  after  nine 
years  into  the  city  from  which  he  had  been  obliged 
to  flee  for  his  life.  Nine  years  ago  (he  remembered) 
even  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem  had  shunned  him, 
because  they  thought  that  their  old  persecutor  was 
only  pretending  to  be  a  friend.  Now  he  was  coming 
again  to  these  very  people  who  had  been  afraid  of 
him,  and  was  bringing  with  him  food  that  meant  life 
to  them  and  their  boys  and  girls. 

It  sickened  Saul,  however,  in  Jerusalem  to  find 
that,  with  all  his  training  as  a  Jewish  scholar  under 
that  great  master,  Gamaliel,  he  could  not  get  his 
brother  Jews  who  were  not  Christians  even  to  listen 
to  him.  Indeed,  the  fact  that  he  had  been  the  rising 
hope  of  the  Pharisees  only  made  them  more  furious. 

"  Listen  to  a  turncoat  traitor,  with  his  pretended 
'visions,'  talking  his  everlasting  blasphemies  about 
Jesus;  hear  him  declaring  that  he  gloried  in  the  acr- 
cursed  cross !    No !  " 

They  spat  with  disgust  and  anger. 

It  was  in  the  lovely  courts  of  the  Temple  itself  that 
Saul  would  feel  most  of  all  that  he  was  against  a 
stone  wall.  To  walk  where  he  had  once  studied  and 
to  see  there  groups  of  young  students  whispering  to 
one  another  as  they  glanced  at  him  with  sneering  looks 
— to  be  an  "  outsider  "  in  the  cloisters  of  his  own  old 
college — that  cut  to  his  heart,  indeed. 

In  the  Temple  court,  Saul  looked  up  to  the  sky 


112  IN  TRAINING 

above  and  prayed.  In  that  hour  there  came  to  him 
(as  clearly  as  that  other  vision  of  Jesus  had  come 
years  before)  a  vision  and  a  Voice.  And  the  Voice 
said: 

"  I  have  called  you  to  leave  the  Jews  and  go  as 
My  missionary  to  the  Peoples." 


In  Jerusalem,  Saul  may  well  have  stayed  at  the 
house  of  a  relative  of  Barnabas,  named  Mark,  whose 
son  John  was  eager  to  go  out  from  Jerusalem  into 
the  wider  world.  So,  when  they  had  finished  their 
work  of  taking  food  to  the  famine-stricken  people, 
young  John  started  out  with  Barnabas  and  Saul  on  the 
journey  back  north  to  Antioch.  John  Mark  was,  in  all 
likelihood,  like  his  uncle  Barnabas,  a  native  of  Cyprus. 

As  they  tramped  their  way  northward,  Saul  and 
Barnabas  would  talk  over  that  trance-vision  which 
Saul  had  had  in  the  Temple.  The  Voice  had  said,  "  I 
have  called  you  to  go  as  My  missionary  to  the  Peoples." 

To  leave  his  own  people,  to  go  to  others — where 
would  it  all  lead?  Saul  and  Barnabas  would  dream 
great  dreams  together,  as  they  talked;  but  none  of 
their  visions  of  the  future  was  to  be  so  wonderful 
as  the  great  adventures  they  were  really  to  meet. 

At  last  they  were  back  once  more  within  the  walls 
of  "  The  Heathen  Queen  "  city,  and  were  soon  tell- 
ing Simeon,  Manaen,  Lucius,  and  the  others  in  Antioch 
all  the  news  of  Jerusalem.  Saul  told  them  of  the 
Voice  that  said  he  was  to  go  to  the  other  nations.  As 
they  talked  together  and  then  waited  in  silence,  the 
Spirit  within  led  them  all  to  see  that  they  must  send 


THE  CALL  ABROAD  113 

some  of  their  number  right  away  to  the  far-off  coun- 
tries to  spread  the  Good  News. 

They  were  not  to  keep  their  best  men  at  home. 
They,  the  Brethren  of  the  despised  sect  of  the  Naz- 
arenes,  were  sending  out  the  first  missionaries  to  face 
the  two  greatest  and  most  wonderful  things  the  world 
had  ever  seen, — the  religion  of  the  Hebrew  people 
and  the  power  and  organization  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  work  abroad  called  for  the  finest  brain,  the  best 
scholarship,  the  ripest  experience.  Barnabas,  the 
trusted  leader,  and  Saul,  the  fiery,  swift-tongued 
University  graduate,  must  go  from  them. 

They  all  met  together  and  prayed,  and  then  the 
Christian  folk  laid  their  hands  on  Barnabas  and  Saul. 
This  showed  that  the  missionaries  were  going  out  as 
their  men. 

Saul,  as  he  lay  down  on  his  bed  on  the  floor  that 
night,  knew  that  he  was  in  the  morning  to  start  on  a 
new  adventure.  He  did  not  know  that  the  next  day's 
tramp  would  be  the  beginning  of  long  marches  in 
which  he  would  hunger  and  thirst;  and  would  be 
stripped  and  buffeted  and  have  no  certain  dwelling- 
place;  and  labour,  working  with  his  own  hands.  He 
was  at  the  beginning  of  many  journeys  over  seas  and 
mountains,  wide,  weary  plains  and  crowded  cities — 
wanderings  that  would  never  cease  until  they  ended 
for  ever. 


BOOK  II 
THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

"And  in  the  strength  of  this  he  rode, 
Scattering  all  evil  customs  everywhere 
.  .  .  and  in  the  strength  of  this 
Came  victor." 


THE   CITIES    OF    PAUL  S    EARLY    LIFE 


XII 

THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE 

THE  keenness  of  early  spring  was  in  the  breeze 
and  sparkled  on  the  Great  Sea  as  the  ship 
nosed  her  way  westward  out  of  the  harbour 
of  Seleucia.  And  it  was  spring  in  the  heart  of  Saul 
as  he  sailed  out  on  his  new  Great  Sea  of  Adventure. 

From  the  stern  of  the  ship  he  waved  to  the  swiftly 
lessening  figures  on  the  end  of  the  stone  breakwater. 
Then  he  turned  and  walked  to  the  bow  of  the  boat, 
where,  in  the  clear  March  morning,  Cyprus  lay  like  a 
cloud  on  the  horizon. 

The  ship  slid  from  the  bright  crest  of  a  rolling  wave 
down  into  the  darker  trough.  But  always  her  bows 
lifted  and  she  came  to  the  summit  again,  and  shook 
the  spray  from  her  sides.  Saul's  spirit,  too,  would  rise 
and  fall  between  the  joy  of  the  new  quest  on  which 
he  was  starting, 

"the  rapture  of  the  forward  view," 

and  a  shrinking  doubt  of  the  darker  unknown  to  be 
explored. 

As  they  ran  westward,  the  ship  would  meet  others 
— swift,  high-peaked  ships  carrying  fruits.from  Cyprus 
to  Antioch.  South  of  them  heavy  tramp-ships  slowly 
crept  east,  carrying  copper  from  Cyprus  to  the  Phoeni- 
cian coast. 

117 


118  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

Barnabas,  however,  eager  to  show  Saul  the  place 
of  his  birth,  drew  him  from  these  things  to  catch  the 
first  glimpse  of  the  city  of  Salamis.  So  the  comrades 
stood  at  the  bow,  steadying  themselves  against  the 
ship's  bulwarks,  their  eyes  gazing  over  the  sea.  They 
would  talk  over  plans,  while  their  young  attendant, 
John  Mark,  stood  quietly  behind  them. 

First  they  saw,  thrust  out  into  the  sea,  like  the 
snout  of  a  giant  sword-fish,  the  long  peninsula  of  the 
Karpass.  Soon  they  came  under  the  lee  of  its  rocks. 
Stretching  away  on  the  north  side  of  Salamis,  this 
ridge  of  mountain-tops  in  the  sea  protected  both  the 
harbour  and  the  city  from  the  boisterous  winds  from 
Asia  Minor.  Ahead  of  them,  Barnabas  and  Saul  could 
now  see,  above  the  long  line  of  white-edged  waves  and 
the  greyish  yellow  sand,  silhouetted  against  the  set- 
ting sun,  the  walls  of  the  city  and  the  roof  of  a  great 
temple. 

Then  the  ship  was  steered  into  the  large  harbour. 
She  threaded  her  yvay  through  the  crowded  shipping 
— vessels  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  from  Greece  and 
Rome,  as  well  as  from  Tyre  and  Seleucia. 

An  order  was  shouted,  followed  by  the  creaking  of 
cordage  through  the  pulleys,  and  the  rattle  of  rings 
on  the  mast.  The  sail  was  furled  and  the  ship  brought 
up  at  her  berth  on  a  taut  cable. 

Barnabas  leapt  ashore  to  be  greeted  by  his  own 
people — his  relatives,  and  men  of  Salamis  whom  he 
had  known  as  a  boy.  He  introduced  his  comrade  Paul 
to  these.  The  Christians  among  them  (for  the  Faith 
had  already  spread  to  Cyprus)  would  look  with  curi- 
osity at  this  man  who,  from  being  a  stormy  persecutor 


THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE  119 

of  the  followers  of  Jesus,  had  become  a  fighting  leader 
in  His  new  Kingdom. 

Threading  their  way  through  the  sailors  of  all 
nations  and  the  harbour-loungers,  past  the  groups 
of  fruit-packers  and  the  brawny  porters,  Barna- 
bas would  lead  Saul  to  the  house  of  one  of  his 
relatives  to  plan  the  things  they  were  to  do  in 
Cyprus. 

As  Saul  went  about  the  Roman  city,  going  from 
synagogue  to  synagogue  with  Barnabas,  speaking  to 
the  people  of  the  coming,  at  last,  of  the  long-expected 
Messiah,  he  would  see  many  things  that  were  familiar 
to  him.  For  Salamis  was  a  Roman  city,  and  like 
Tarsus  anTl  Antioch,  it  was  spread  over  a  plain  with 
mountains  in  sight. 

In  Salamis  (as  in  Antioch  and  Tarsus)  Saul  saw 
the  marble  temples  lifting  the  perfect  beauty  of  Greek 
craftsmanship  bfore  him.  Standing  on  the  city  wall 
he  could  see  the  long,  sturdy  Roman  aqueduct  spanning 
the  plain  with  its  arches.  Here,  as  in  many  other  cities 
where  he  had  worked  and  was  to  work — for  instance, 
Lystra  and  Iconium,  Ephesus  and  Athens  and  Corinth 
— he  heard  the  clanking  footstep  of  the  Roman  soldier 
on  sentry-go — all  armed  with  broad-sword  and  shield 
and  brazen-crested  helmet. 

Yet  in  Salamis — and,  indeed,  in  all  the  cities — ^he 
saw  a  strange  something  that  he  could  not  describe, 
which  neither  belonged  to  Greece  nor  to  Rome.  He 
saw  it  in  the  long  line  of  camels  slowly  crossing  the 
plain  led  by  a  hooded,  silent  figure.  It  came  to  him  as 
he  noticed  the  patient  oxen  pulling  the  wooden  plough 
through  the  soil  between  the  olive  trees,  or  as  he 


120  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

watched  a  quiet  figure  seated  cross-legged  on  the 
ground — motionless,  meditating. 

It  was  the  Spirit  of  the  East. 

The  East  would  never  make  great  roads  like  Rome, 
nor  plan  her  noble  aqueducts,  and  did  not  dream  of 
creating  such  dramas  as  Sophocles  wrote  to  be  played 
in  splendid  marble  theatres  open  to  the  blue  sky.  Nor 
did  it  weave  spells  of  glorious  oratory  such  as  had 
thrilled  the  Roman  senate  from  the  lips  of  Cicero. 
The  East  gazed  in  puzzled  wonder  at  the  wild  energy 
of  the  chariot-races  and  of  the  wrestling  and  fighting 
gladiators. 

"  She  saw  the  legions  thunder  past, 
And  plunged  in  thought  again." 

Rome  scorned  the  East  for  her  slackness,  and  Greece 
proudly  looked  at  her  own  Parthenon  and  her  poets 
and  thought  that  the  Oriental  had  nothing  that  com- 
pared with  these. 

Yet,  when  the  last  column  of  the  Greek  temple  in 
Roman  Salamis  had  tumbled  in  ruin  and  was  covered 
with  sand,  and  the  greatest  theatre  of  Greece  has  be- 
come a  terrace  of  wild  flowers,  the  camel  would  still 
go  across  the  Cyprus  plain  led  by  a  hooded  figure. 
The  East  would  remain. 

It  was  a  part  of  the  greatness  of  Saul  that,  while  his 
conquering  mind  leapt  to  the  power  of  the  Roman 
rule,  and  his  quick  wit  and  brilliant  speech  excelled 
even  that  of  the  Greek,  his  heart  was  the  patient  brood- 
ing heart  of  the  East,  searching  the  deep  things. 

So  Barnabas  and  he,  speaking  in  Greek  to  the  people 
( for  the  Hellenised  Jews  who  were  spread  all  over  the 


THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE  121 

Roman  Empire  spoke  Greek  in  most  of  the  cities), 
went  from  Salamis  out  across  the  plain.  The  corn 
was,  by  this  time,  covering  all  the  brown  earth  with 
green.  They  walked  westward  from  end  to  end  of  the 
island,  climbing  grey  hills  where  the  wild  goats  leaped, 
and  dropping  down  long,  winding  valleys  to  fishing 
towns  on  the  seashore.  They  would  see  men  mining 
in  the  red  hillsides  for  the  copper  for  which  the  island 
was  famous  all  the  world  over ;  and  would  pass  through 
groves  of  fig  and  olive  trees. 

On  their  right  rose  a  mighty  peak  from  which  the 
snows  were  now  melting  fast — the  peak  of  Mount 
Olympus,  where,  they  said,  the  gods  held  counsel  to- 
gether. In  the  clear  blue  of  a  sultry  noon  when  they 
rested  and  took  their  food  on  a  hill-crest,  they  could 
see  the  Great  Sea  gleaming  in  the  distance,  and,  right 
beyond,  on  the  very  edge  of  the  world,  away  to  the 
north,  the  white  >rim  of  the  Taurus  mountains. 

Perhaps  Barnabas  would  tell  Saul  a  story  which  all 
the  people  in  Cyprus  knew  and  which  most  of  them 
believed. 

Down  there,  out  of  the  foam  of  the  waves  (they 
said),  a  lovely  goddess  was  born,  named  Aphrodite. 
She  came  ashore  in  a  shell  and  has  lived  in  Cyprus  ever 
since.     She  is  the  goddess  of  love  and  beauty. 

As  they  talked,  looking  out  over  the  sea,  where  men 
said  the  goddess  was  born,  the  sun  slipped  lower  and 
the  light  paled,  changing  from  the  deep  full  blue  of  the 
Mediterranean  through  shades  of  light  blue  to  blue- 
grey  and  then  to  a  glimmering  pearl. 

Over  a  hill-crest  there  swept  in  threatening  circles 


122  THE  FORWARD  TRI;AD 

a  pair  of  royal  eagles,  while  across  a  valley  a  hunting 
party  of  vultures  floated  to  and  fro  in  search  of  prey. 
So  Saul  and  Barnabas  walked  across  the  hills  and  down 
a  great  valley  that  looked  like  a  theatre  of  the  gods, 
where  the  silence  was  only  broken  by  the  sound  of  run- 
ning water,  and  the  cry  of  a  herd-boy  to  his  goats. 

At  last  they  came  out  on  the  low  plateau  that  leads 
to  Paphos.  Here  they  might  well  see  the  people 
coming  out  along  the  road  to  worship  at  the  temple 
of  Aphrodite.  Saul  would  remember  how  at  Antioch, 
Apollo,  the  god  of  light,  was  worshipped;  and  here  in 
Cyprus,  Aphrodite,  the  goddess  of  love  and  beauty. 
And  he  burned  to  tell  these  people  of  the  only  true 
God,  Who  was  truly  the  God  of  Light  and  Love,  and 
also  (unlike  the  Apollo  and  Aphrodite  whose  legends 
tell  of  impurity  and  treachery)  a  God  who  was  holy 
and  utterly  true  to  His  word. 

As  we  shall  see  plainly  later,  Saul  never  attacked 
other  religions  that  were  reaching,  however  blindly, 
after  the  unseen  God.  But  he  did  attack  the  worship 
of  idols  that  limited  the  omnipotent  God  to  cold  marble 
or  to  wood  or  metal;  and  he  loathed  all  religious 
trickery.  All  unknown  to  himself,  he  was  now  on  the 
eve  of  an  adventure  where  he  was  to  smite  a  great 
blow  against  a  religious  charlatan. 

Barnabas  and  he,  as  they  walked  on  to  the  city, 
jahead  of  them,  saw  along  the  road  people  coming  and 
going  to  and  from  the  Roman  capital  of  the  island — 
the  centre  of  the  government.  The  soldiers,  the  proud 
Roman  dames  borne  in  palanquins  on  the  shoulders 
of  slaves,  the  straight  paved  road  leading  down  to  the 
city  where  the  citadel  and  the  proconsul's  palace  were 


THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE  123 

already  in  sight,  showed  them  that  they  were  nearing 
Paphos. 

They  went  in  through  the  city  gates  to  the  streets 
within  the  walls,  where  they  found  more  Romans  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  island.  For  this  was  the 
capital  where  the  Roman  proconsul,  Sergius  Paulus, 
lived, 

Barnabas  and  Saul  passed,  as  they  had  done  at 
each  town  throughout  the  whole  island,  under  the 
portico  of  the  doorway  that  bore  a  carving  of  grapes 
and  vine-leaves — the  Hebrew  synagogue.  Barnabas, 
who  would  be  known  to  the  Jews  as  one  of  their  own 
race,  and  a  native  of  Cyprus,  introduced  his  younger 
comrade,  Saul,  who  would  then  speak  out  the  great 
news  that  they  were  travelling  to  give ;  that  the  Mes- 
giah  had  come,  that  God  had  really  now  spoken  in  a 
Son  named  Jesus.^ 

When  Saul  stood  up  and  began  to  pour  out  in 
speech  that  marvellous  blend  of  flaming  passion  and 
closely-knit  argument  based  on  the  history  of  the 
people  (of  which  he  was  the  master),  it  was  as  though 
some  brilliant  general  had  hurled  a  regiment  of  charg- 
ing cavalry  into  the  lines  of  the  enemy.  You  might 
fight  against  Saul  or  be  convinced  by  his  argument. 
The  one  thing  you  could  not  do  was  to  ignore  him. 

When  the  people  went  out,  therefore,  from  the 
cool  shadows  of  the  synagogue  into  the  hot  glare  of 
the  streets,  they  talked  to  one  another  of  this  strange 
doctrine.  Teachers  had  often  come  to  Paphos  speak- 
ing of  strange  ideas  from  the  East  and  deep  philosophy 

^  The  kind  of  argument  that  Saul  used  in  Jewi^  synagogues 
we  shall  read  in  the  next  chapter. 


124  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

from  Greece.  They  were  interesting,  but  this  was 
something  more — for  if  what  Saul  said  was  true,  that 
God  had  now  shown  for  the  first  time  completely  the 
Way  to  Himself,  then  all  their  lives  were  changed. 

From  lip  to  lip  the  story  of  these  strange  teachers 
passed.  The  attendants  at  the  palace  of  Sergius 
Paulus,  the  proconsul,  began  to  hear  of  it.  They 
knew  that  their  master  enjoyed  listening  to  new  teach- 
ings, for  he  was  quite  above  the  ordinary  level  of 
Roman  proconsuls  in  his  keen  interest  in  thought. 

"  Send  to  the  men  and  ask  them  to  come  and  speak 
to  me  of  these  things,"  he  ordered. 

The  invitation  was  in  itself  a  royal  command. 

Barnabas  and  Saul  were  led,  into  the  presence  of 
the  proconsul,  through  the  courtyards,  where  foun- 
tains played  in  the  sunshine  and  kept  the  air  cool. 
Round  him  were  his  courtiers  and  personal  guards. 
Among  them  was  a  dark-haired  Jew  named  Bar-jesus, 
a  name  which  means  "  Son  of  a  Saviour."  He  was 
a  wizard  of  the  East,  who  knew  mysterious  incanta- 
tions and  professed  to  read  the  future  by  means  of 
the  stars.  He  could  perform  marvels  and  bend  the 
wills  of  men  to  his  own  by  hypnotic  powers.  All 
round  the  Great  Sea  in  all  the  cities  of  the  Roman 
Empire  were  men  like  this  sorcerer,  who  put  manacles 
on  the  minds  of  men  by  their  great  powers  of  magic. 
One  great  Roman  general,  for  instance,  fell  so  low 
as  to  conduct  all  his  campaigns  on  the  advice  of  an 
Oriental  fortune-telling  woman.  This  wizard,  Bar- 
jesus,  was  in  the  Court  of  Sergius  Paulus  because  he 
was  trying  to  get  power  over  the  man  who  was  su- 
preme in  all  Cyprus. 


THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE  125 

As  he  saw  these  two  fellow-Jews  walking  up  the 
marble  floor  of  the  hall  to  face  Sergius  Paulus,  Bar- 
jesus  looked  at  them  closely.  But  he  hardly  imagined 
that  these  mere  travelling  talkers  could  have  any  effect 
on  his  own  power  at  the  Roman  Court. 

Sergius  Paulus  told  Barnabas  and  Saul  that  he  had 
heard  of  their  teaching  from  others,  but  wished  to 
know  more  about  it  from  themselves. 

Then  Saul  stood  forward.  This  was  something 
that  had  never  come  to  him  before.  He  had  been  a 
Jew  speaking  to  Jews.  Barnabas  had  been  the  leader 
through  Cyprus.  It  was  he  who  introduced  Saul  to 
the  Jews  as  they  came  to  each  new  town  by  the  sea- 
shore or  among  the  folds  of  the  hills.  To-day  all  that 
was  changed.  Saul  was  a  Roman  speaking  in  the 
presence  of  the  man  who  stood — in  all  Cyprus — for 
the  mighty  power  of  that  empire  of  which  Saul  was  a 
citizen, 

"  Saul ! "  No,  not  Saul  the  Jew  now,  but  Paul  the 
Roman,  He  himself  was  called  by  the  same  name 
as  this  Roman  proconsul,  Sergius  Paulus,  to  whom  he 
was  nov/  telling  the  new  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  God  as  shown  in  Jesus  Christ  with  all  the  learning 
of  the  Jewish  graduate,  and  talking  in  Greek,  the 
language  of  cultivated  men  throughout  the  imperial 
cities  of  the  Great  Sea, 

What  did  Paul  say?  We  cannot  know  exactly. 
But  as  Sergius  Paulus  had  heard  of  him  as  one  who 
told  of  the  character  of  God  and  the  way  He  dealt 
with  men,  we  can  well  believe  that  Paul  would  follow 
something  like  the  argument  that  he  used  later  in  a 
letter. 


126  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

"All  things  that  have  been  made,  in  the  sky  and 
on  the  earth,  the  things  that  we  can  see  and  cannot 
see — all  the  rule  of  kings  and  the  unseen  powers  have 
been  created  by  God.  And  He  has  poured  all  that  He 
is  into  the  life  of  one  Jesus  Christ  Who  rescues  us 
from  the  power  of  Darkness  and  carries  us  into  the 
Realm  of  Light. 

"  He  is  the  Head  of  every  unseen  Power,  supreme 
over  even  those  dark  powers  that  the  magician  exer- 
cises. All  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  are 
in  Him.  Beware  of  anyone  getting  hold  of  you  by 
means  of  a  make-believe  spiritualism.  It  is  in  Christ 
alone  that  all  God's  fullness  is. 

"  Living  in  Him  we  put  to  death  impurity,  low  ap- 
petites, evil  desires — the  things  which  bring  down  the 
anger  of  God  on  disobedient  sons.  Off  with  them  all 
now — anger,  '  rage,  malice,  slander,  foul  talk !  We 
aim  at  what  is  above,  for  our  life  is  hidden  with  Christ 
in  God." 

Eagerly  Sergius  Paulus  leaned  forward  to  hear  the 
fascinating  speech  of  this  new  teacher.  The  pro- 
consul was  a  man  of  brain  and  judgment;  and  he 
could  see  that  facing  him  was  one  who  had  a  spacious 
daring  mind.  It  was  like  glorious  sunlight  after 
the  choking  smoke  of  the  midnight  incantations 
of  that  sorcerer,  Bar-jesus,  who  s.tood  listening  to 
Paul. 

Elymas,  the  "  wise  "  (as  Bar-jesus  arrogantly  called 
himself)  looked  at  Sergius  Paulus  and  saw  how 
pleased  he  was  with  Paul's  teaching.  The  sorcerer's 
brow  lowered,  his  face  glowed  with  anger.  His 
power  was  in  peril,  all  his  influence  was  at  stake.    If 


r.\ii.  AM)  i'.AKX.vr.As  i;i:i"()Ki-:  .si-:i«;ius  at  paphos 
"  Sergius  Paulus  leaned  forward  to  hear  this  new  teacher." 


THE  ISLAND  ADVENTURE  127 

Paul  won  the  Roman  ruler,  then  Elymas'  career  was 
at  an  end. 

Impulsively  he  stepped  forward  and  began  to  try 
to  draw  the  mind  of  Sergius  Paulus  away.  Paul's  hot 
blood  was  up  immediately.  He  turned  his  eyes  on 
Elymas,  and  said: 

"  You  son  of  the  devil  (though  called  Bar-jesus, 
Son  of  a  Saviour),  you  enemy  of  all  good,  full  of 
craftiness  and  cunning,  will  you  never  stop  twisting 
the  straight  paths  of  the  Lord  ? 

"  See  here,  the  Lord's  hand  will  fall  on  you  and 
you  will  be  blind,  unable  to  see  the  sun  for  a  time." 

The  figures  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  the  proconsul, 
the  marble  columns,  the  shining  light — all  faded. 
Elymas,  the  sorcerer,  was  blind.  They  saw  his  hands 
grope,  his  sightless  eyes  turning  vainly  round.  Some- 
one took  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  away. 

Paul  had  won  his  spurs  in  a  new  field.  He  saw  the 
deadly  influence  of  this  magician  trying  to  drug  the 
brain  and  spirit  of  Sergius  Paulus. 

In  his  first  battle,  Paul  had  routed  magic  and  had 
won  the  Roman  ruler  to  the  strong  and  knightly  vision 
that  belongs  to  a  good  soldier  of  Christ. 


XIII 
FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND 

ONE  morning  Paul  and  Barnabas  with  John 
Mark  walked  down  to  the  snug  harbour  that 
lay  below  the  city  of  Paphos.  In  the  circle 
made  by  the  embracing  arms  of  the  stone  breakwaters 
some  little  ships  rocked  on  the  water. 

The  deck  of  one  of  them  was  busy  with  prepara- 
tions for  sailing.  The  three  travellers  went  aboard, 
the  crew  weighed  anchor,  and  the  boat  slipped  out 
through  the  harbour-mouth  into  the  open  sea.  Skirt- 
ing the  treacherous  ledge  of  rock  which  (as  the  sailors 
knew)  lay  just  under  the  shining  surface  of  the  sea 
outside  the  harbour,  they  laid  a  course  to  the  north- 
west. 

The  boat  slipped  westward  at  first,  bearing  north 
round  the  curve  of  the  coast  as  the  sun  lifted  astern 
above  Mount  Olympus.  When  they  sailed  months 
before  to  Cyprus  from  Seleucia,  they  saw  away  to 
the  north  the  white  ridge  of  the  Taurus  range  behind 
the  Cilician  plain  on  which  Paul  was  born.  For  at 
that  time  the  snows  were  not  melted  and  the  air  was 
clear.  But  now  full  summer  had  come;  the  snows 
above  were  melted  and  the  air  had  the  haze  of  heat 
in  it. 

All  day  long  the  ship  sailed,  and  through  the  night. 
She  was  bound  for  Perga  on  the  coast  of  Pamphylia, 

138 


FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND        129 

farther  westward  than  Cihcia.  If  the  breeze  was  with 
her,  she  would  at  dawn  make  the  Gulf  of  Attalia, 
which  swept  out  to  sea  in  two  great  arms  of  hills 
protecting  a  plain.  As  the  mists  of  morning  lifted, 
Paul  would  see,  far  ahead  beyond  the  plain,  the  grey- 
heights  of  the  Taurus.  In  the  centre  of  the  bay  the 
sea  was  coloured  with  the  running  waters  of  a  river — 
the  Cestrus.  The  river,  carefully  banked  with  stone 
and  with  wood-baulks,  would  remind  Paul  of  his 
well-beloved  Cydnus.  For  Perga  was  like  Tarsus,  in 
that  it  lay  some  miles  up  from  the  actual  mouth  of 
the  river. 

The  ship's  oars  were  swung  out,  and  dipped  and 
flashed  as  the  crew  pulled  the  vessel  upstream.  It 
took  over  an  hour's  rowing  to  bring  them  up  to  the 
harbour  of  Perga,  where  the  city  lay  in  the  blazing 
sun  sheltered  between  the  forest-covered  hills,  with 
the  damp  air  rising  from  her  river. 

Even  the  stadium  and  the  theatre  would  be  deserted. 
For  Paul  and  his  companions  had  come  at  the  time 
of  year  when  the  people  of  Perga  moved  out  from  the 
city  up  into  their  suburb  among  the  hills.  He  re- 
membered how  in  the  blazing  summer  time  they  used 
to  do  the  same  when  he  was  a  boy  at  Tarsus.  The 
Pergans  loved  their  wooded  hills,  and  out  behind  the 
city  they  had  built  a  lovely  temple  to  Diana,  the 
huntress  of  the  gods,  with  her  bow  and  quiver  of 
arrows. 

Paul  came  fresh  from  the  open  sea  into  the  moist 
heat  of  the  Pamphylian  coast.  As  day  wore  on  to 
evening  a  dank  mist  rose.  A  dull,  purple,  poisonous 
haze  spread  stealthily  over  the  low  coastland  as  the 


130  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

horizon  cut  the  sun's  rim.  The  air  was  filled  with  the 
wearisome  singing  of  mosquitoes  and  the  hum  of  flies. 
Frogs  kept  up  an  unceasing  chorus  in  the  marshes. 
The  sultry  heat  gave  place  to  a  miasma,  which  sent 
its  damp  chill  even  through  Paul's  cloak. 

The  towering  Taurus  mountains  above  the  plain 
kept  away — like  a  rampart — the  fresh,  clean,  invading 
breezes  of  the  north.  The  foul  malaria  of  the  marshes, 
creeping  along  the  coast-line  like  unclean  ghosts, 
struck  Paul.  Nowhere  on  the  Mediterranean  coast 
is  the  pestilence  of  fever  so  dreaded  as  on  this  spot. 
And  Paul  was,  it  seems,  smitten  with  fever  here  at 
Perga.^ 

What  was  he  to  do  ?  To  stay  there  on  that  stricken 
Pamphylian  plain  was  to  leave  his  body  a  prey  to  the 
shivering  agonies  of  fever  without  any  advantage — 
for  he  could  do  no  work  there.  Should  he  go  back  ? — 
the  thought  would  find  no  anchorage  in  the  minds 
of  men  of  the  temper  of  Paul  and  Barnabas.  But 
ahead  of  them  lay  the  steep  mountain  ascents,  and, 
beyond  their  ridge,  the  high,  dry  bracing  air  of  the 
great  plateau  with  its  Roman  cities,  and  the  great 
Roman  highway  that  ran  from  east  to  west. 

Paul,  in  Cyprus,  had  begun  to  win  the  Roman  power 
when  he  convinced  Sergius  Paulus.  Why  not  go 
further  with  the  campaign?  They  held  a  consulta- 
tion and  decided  to  press  forward,  though  John  Mark 
shrank  from  the  adventure — for  he  turned  back  and 
sailed  home  again  to  Syria. 

^  For  the  reasons  for  believing  that  Paul  caught  a  fever  on  the 
Pamphylian  plain,  see  Ramsay's  St.  Paul,  the  Traveller  and 
Roman  Citizen,  pages  89-97. 


FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND       131 

Turning  their  backs  on  the  sea,  Paul  and  Barnabas 
breasted  the  foot-hills,  where  the  almond  trees  had  al- 
ready dropped  their  blossom  in  a  snowstorm  of  white 
petals.  Paul  would  ride  on  an  ass,  and  from  time  to 
time  try  to  walk,  feebly  at  first,  and  often  needing  to 
rest  on  a  boulder  by  a  mountain-pool,  where  the  gentle, 
brown  water  waited  to  refresh  him.  But  as  he  felt 
the  rock  under  his  feet  and  drew  the  keener  air  of  the 
hills  among  the  pines,  new  life  came  with  each  deep 
breath.  His  step  was  more  certain  and  firm,  his  eye 
quickened. 

They  climbed  by  the  sides  of  ravines,  where  tum- 
bling waters  splashed  down  in  torrents  toward  the 
Great  Sea,  whose  blue  grew  dimmer  in  the  distance 
each  time  they  rested  to  look  back. 

They  had  left  the  peril  of  fever — but  a  new  danger 
was  all  about  them — the  peril  of  robbers.  Many  fierce 
brigands  hid  among  the  grim,  grey  fastnesses  of  these 
Pisidian  highlands  in  the  rocky  caverns  under  the 
pines.  These  bronzed  robbers  ambushed  themselves, 
and  then  leapt  down  the  sides  of  the  ravine  like  wild 
goats.  They  sprang  out  and  held  up  the  caravans  of 
merchandise  that  toiled  up  this  path  to  the  cities  on 
the  upper  plains. 

Once  out  among  the  upper  Pisidian  hills,  with  the 
ridge  of  the  Taurus  behind  them,  all  would  be  well 
with  Paul  and  Barnabas,  for  the  Romans  had  just 
made  a  new  road,  of  which  they  were  so  proud  that 
they  called  it  the  Royal  Road.  Its  freshly  paved  length 
ran  from  Pisidian  Antioch^  eastward  and  southward 

^  Not  the  Antioch  of  Syria.  They  were  named  alike  because 
they  were  both  founded  by  the  same  Emperor. 


132  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

[(joining  up  with  the  Roman  colony  of  Lystra)  on 
purpose  to  make  it  easy  to  send  soldiers  along  to  put 
down  these  robbers. 

The  two  travellers  were,  however,  not  yet  out  upon 
this  open  land.  And  the  steep  defiles  of  the  Taurus, 
where  only  a  mule-track  ran,  were  still  the  happy 
hunting-ground  of  the  brigands.  Paul  himself  tells 
us — just  in  a  sentence — how  he  was  "  in  peril  of 
robbers."  This  journey  from  Perga  up  the  mountain- 
side through  the  Pisidian  country  to  Antioch,^  is  one 
where  Paul  may  well  have  been  seized  and  robbed 
by  brigands,  springing  out  from  behind  the  boulders  of 
a  hillside  or  out  from  the  cleft  of  a  tiny  stream. 

At  last  Paul  and  Barnabas  crested  the  Taurus  ridge 
itself  and  looked  down  on  the  rolling  plains  spread 
before  them.  Behind  them  the  steep  mountains  ran 
down  southward  five  thousand  feet  to  the  ocean  from 
which  they  had  climbed;  but  in  front  the  hills  only 
dropped  less  than  a  thousand  feet  to  the  wonderful 
shining  tableland. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  worked  northward,  and  crossed 
the  purple  and  brown  foot-hills  of  the  Taurus.  At 
last  they  came  in  sight  of  a  great  aqueduct,  whose 
arches  ran  across  the  plain  like  a  string  of  giant 
camels  turned  to  stone  by  magic  as  they  carried  water 
across  the  land. 

The  aqueduct  ran  to  a  beautiful  city,  set  on  the 
sides  of  a  rocky  hill.    On  the  shoulder  of  the  hill  was 

*  I  stayed  in  February,  1914,  with  an  old  Turk  living  at  Antioch 
in  Pisidia  (Yalovatch)  who,  only  a  few  years  before,  had  been 
held  up  by  brigands  in  the  hills  close  to  Antioch,  and  had  him- 
self shot  one  of  them. 


FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND       133 

a  temple,  cut  in  the  living  rock,  and  before  it  a  portico 
of  marble  with  carvings  of  bulls'  heads  hung  with 
garlands.  But — away  from  the  temple — there  was  a 
smaller,  plainer  building  with  no  carving  on  it — yet 
strong  in  its  simplicity.  It  was  here  and  not  to  the 
temple  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  went.  It  was  the 
meeting-house  of  the  Jews  of  Antioch. 

Having  entered,  Paul  and  Barnabas  sat  down  quietly 
to  join  in  the  Sabbath  worship.  The  lessons  were 
read  from  the  Law  of  Moses  ^  and  from  one  of 
the  prophets.  The  chief  men  in  the  synagogue  saw, 
from  the  dress  and  the  ways  of  the  two  strangers, 
that  these  travellers  were  Hebrews  like  themselves. 
They  would,  for  instance,  have  over  their  heads  the 
wrap  which  all  the  Jews  put  on  when  entering  the 
synagogue.    So  they  said  to  them : 

"  You  men,  and — as  we  see — ^brother- Jews,  if  you 
have  any  word  to  encourage  the  people  here,  say  on." 

Barnabas  was  not  so  good  a  speaker  as  Paul;  so 
Paul  stood  up  and  said,  with  a  sweep  of  his  arm : 

"  Men  of  Israel  and  you  who  fear  God,  give  ear." 

He  used  this  double  form  of  address  on  purpose; 
because,  beside  the  real  Jews — "  the  men  of  Israel " — 
there  were  many  Greeks  who  found  in  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  something  great  and  real,  a  dignity  and  clean 
strength  that  gripped  them  more  than  the  temple 
worship  of  gods  of  marble.  So  these  Greeks  he  spoke 
to  as  "  those  who  fear  God." 

The  boys  in  the  synagogue  would  look  at  Paul  at 
first,  because  he  was  someone  new  and  strange.    But 

*  It  seems  probable  that  the  lessons  that  day  wer?  Deut.  i.  an^ 
Isaiah  i. 


134  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

soon  their  eyes  were  glued  to  him,  partly  by  that 
strange  fascination  which  a  man  always  exercises  who 
is  ready  to  meet  any  adventure  or  peril  to  reach 
a  high  end,  and  partly  because  he  began  to  tell  again 
the  heroic  story  that  these  Jewish  boys  knew  so 
well. 

He  pictured  the  great  "  trek  "  from  Egypt  across 
the  desolate  wilderness  over  Jordan  to  the  freedom  of 
the  plain  of  Jericho  and  of  the  hills  about  Jerusalem. 
They  saw  again,  through  Paul's  eyes,  the  boy  Samuel 
growing  up  to  be  their  wise  old  ruler,  and  then  the 
coming  of  the  giant  king  Saul  and  the  shepherd  David 
on  the  throne.  He  showed  how  all  this  was  leading 
up  to  something — from  the  tents  in  the  desert  to  the 
city  in  the  hills,  from  the  simple  rule  of  Samuel  to 
the  greater  rule  needed  by  a  nation  among  nations — 
the  rule  of  kings. 

It  was  leading  to  what?  The  coming — how  all  of 
them  were  waiting  for  the  greatest  King  to  come! 
Then  suddenly  Paul  sprang  it  upon  them — the  Good 
News  that  would  take  away  their  breath.  God  had 
actually  already  sent  His  forerunner,  the  blazing  f orth- 
teller,  John  the  Baptist,  and  now  the  Messiah  of  God 
Himself — Jesus  the  Christ — had  come! 

"  The  Jews  in  Jerusalem,"  Paul  went  on,  "  though 
they  could  not  find  Him  guilty  of  any  crime,  begged 
Pilate  to  have  Him  put  to  death.  They  hanged  Him 
on  the  gibbet-cross  and  buried  Him.  But  God  raised 
Him  from  the  dead.  And  many  of  His  companions 
— who  had  walked  up  to  Jerusalem  with  Him  from 
Galilee — saw  Him  alive  and  are  witnesses  to  the 
People  that  this  is  true. 


FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND        135 

"  So  now  we  have  come  here  to  tell  you  the  glad 
news,  that  the  promise  God  made  to  our  fathers  He 
has  carried  out  for  us — their  children." 

Some  of  the  Jews — probably  the  officials  of  the 
synagogue  sitting  just  in  front  of  where  Paul  was 
speaking — evidently  wagged  their  heads  and  glowered 
at  him,  murmuring  to  one  another  that  nobody  who 
hung  on  the  accursed  death-tree  could  be  a  Son  of 
God.  For  turning  swiftly  to  them  at  the  end  of  his 
speech,  Paul  said: 

"  Take  care,  then,  for  fear  that  the  old  saying  may 
be  true  of  you — 

" '  Look,  you  contemptuous  folk,  wonder  at  this  and  perish. 
For  in  your  days  I  do  a  deed, 
A  deed  you  will  never  believe, 
Not  though  one  were  to  explain  it  to  you.'  " 

There  was  a  bustle  of  excitement  when  Paul  had 
finished.  The  people  were  all  agog — some  thinking 
what  Paul  said  might  really  be  true;  others  practically 
convinced  that  he  and  Barnabas  were  nothing  but  a 
pair  of  travelling  impostors.  As  the  two  went  out  of 
the  door  a  number  of  people  who  thought  the  story  of 
Jesus  was  true  came  clustering  round  them,  asking  a 
great  many  questions.  Some  of  these  people  were 
Jews.  Others  were  Greeks  and  Romans,  on  whose 
pagan  life 

"...  disgust 
And  secret  loathing  fell; 
Deep  weariness  and  sated  lust 
Made  human  life  a  hell." 

These  Greeks  and  Romans  had  heard  the  Jews 


136  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

talking  of  the  one  holy  unseen  eternal  God — the  Spirit 
Who  created  all  things;  and  they  felt  that  they  could 
worship  Him,  as  they  never  could  really  bow  down 
to  their  ill-tempered,  evil-living  gods.  So  they  had 
attached  themselves  to  the  worship  of  the  Jews  and 
had  accepted  circumcision. 

"  Repeat  it  all  next  Sabbath,"  said  the  people;  and 
Paul  promised  that  he  would  do  so. 

As  the  elder  boys  went  home  from  the  synagogue, 
and  sat  down  to  food  at  home,  they  would  hear  their 
fathers  discussing  this  astonishing  new  teaching.  On 
the  next  day — in  the  market-place,  among  the  groups 
chattering  in  the  bazaar — the  one  centre  of  conversa- 
tion was  the  words  of  these  strange  new  visitors.  So 
that  on  the  following  Sabbath  when  Paul  and  Barnabas 
went  to  synagogue,  they  found  themselves  faced  by  a 
sea  of  men — Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans — and  at  the 
doorway  a  mass  of  the  people  who  did  not  belong  to 
their  worship,  but  had  come  together  out  of  curiosity 
to  hear  this  new  strange  story. 

Meanwhile  the  Jews,  who  had  shown  on  the  previ- 
ous Sabbath  that  they  did  not  believe  what  Paul  said, 
were  getting  angry  with  these  vagrant  preachers  who 
had  set  all  the  people  by  the  ears.  They  were  jealous, 
too,  that  so  many  people  had  come  together  to  hear 
Paul.  When  he  began  to  speak  they  interrupted, 
contradicting  him  and  calling  him  names  there  in  the 
synagogue.  But  the  more  they  attacked  him,  the 
more  fearlessly  did  Paul  and  Barnabas  argue  and 
maintain  with  all  their  power  that  Jesus  was  indeed 
the  Messiah,  the  Christ  of  God. 

At  last,  the  two  comrades  saw  that  the  narrower 


PAUL  AND  BARNABAS  BEING  DRIVEN   FROM  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA 
"  Down  the  street  and  out  through  the  gate  they  rushed  the  two." 


FROM  LOWLAND  TO  HIGHLAND       137 

Jews  were  hopelessly  bigoted  against  them.  So  they 
stood  up  and  said : 

"  The  Word  of  God  had  to  be  spoken  to  you  Jews 
in  the  first  instance.  But  as  you  push  it  aside  and 
judge  that  you  yourselves  are  not  worthy  of  eternal 
life,  well  (and  they  pointed  to  the  crowd  of  faces  at 
the  back  and  in  the  doorway),  here,  we  turn  to  the 
Nations." 

The  outside  people  were  delighted  to  hear  this. 
When  the  synagogue  service  broke  up  they  crowded 
round  to  hear  more.  And  in  the  market-place,  when 
the  people  came  in  from  the  country  round,  they  were 
told  of  the  wonderful  news  that  the  Creator  of  all 
the  world  had  come  into  human  life  and  shown  His 
love  in  Jesus  the  Christ.  When  they  went  back  home 
to  their  country  villages  among  the  hills  they  talked 
about  the  new  doctrine.  The  next  market-day  they 
would  ask  more  about  it,  and  maybe  gather  round  Paul 
and  Barnabas  to  hear  what  they  had  to  say.  Many  of 
them  learned  to  believe,  and  in  many  places  round 
about  little  bands  of  Christian  people  began  to  grow 
into  being. 

All  the  while,  however,  the  angry  Jews  were  work- 
ing secretly.  They  went  to  the  women  who  worshipped 
in  their  synagogue  who  were  married  to  Roman  offi- 
cials of  high  rank;  and  they  got  them  to  urge  their  hus- 
bands to  turn  these  "  tramp  fellows  "  out  of  the  city, 
where  they  were  upsetting  everybody. 

So  on^  day  they  began  to  hustle  Paul  and  Barnabas 
out  of  the  city.  Down  the  street  and  out  through  the 
gate  they  rushed  the  two.  When  they  were  out  in  the 
open,  Paul  and  Barnabas  stopped  and  undid  their  san- 


138  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

dais,  took  them  off,  and  shook  out  the  duSt.  It  was 
their  declaration  of  protest  (as  every  Jew  who  watched 
them  doing  it  knew  quite  well)  against  the  treatment 
of  the  Antiochenes. 

They  were  out  on  the  open  road  again  with  the 
white  stones  of  the  Roman  road  under  their  feet,  and 
the  blue  sky  overhead.  John  Mark  (they  remem- 
bered) had  gone  back  in  safety  to  his  quiet  home  in 
Palestine.  Saul  and  Barnabas,  despised  and  rejected, 
amid  contumely  and  derision,  went  hooted  and  home- 
less out  on  to  the  road  of  adventure  for  the  King. 


XIV 
WORSHIPPED  AND   STONED 

A  SPLENDID  road  was  under  their  feet  as  they 
left  Antioch.  It  was  an  Imperial  road — one 
more  in  the  many  links  of  the  chain  that  bound 
the  nations  around  the  Great  Sea  to  the  throne  of  the 
Mistress  of  the  World. 

Slaves  and  convicts,  nearly  half  a  century  before 
Paul  and  Barnabas  passed,  had  dug  out  the  earth 
through  the  whole  length  of  this  road;  they  had 
quarried,  carted,  smashed,  thrown  in,  and  hammered 
down  three  layers  of  stone.  Then,  with  ring  of  chisel 
and  thud  of  mallet,  they  had  paved  the  surface  with 
closely  fitting  stone,  the  whole  road  being  curved  to 
throw  off  water  into  side  trenches. 

This  road  on  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  strode  south- 
eastwards  gleamed  there  in  the  spring  sunshine.  The 
robbers  in  the  hills  saw  the  road  and  trembled.  Down 
that  road  the  Roman  legionaries  swiftly  marched — 
sword  at  hip  and  shield  on  arm.  The  brazen  Eagle 
on  the  Roman  standard  soared  from  the  road  up 
among  the  fastnesses  of  the  robbers  in  the  almost 
trackless  mountain-range  on  their  left,  defying  even 
the  crags  where  the  vultures  swooped  for  their  prey. 

The  road  was  the  mark  of  Rome.  It  was  the  line 
along  which  she  hurled  the  legions  that  kept  over  all 
the  world  at  that  day,  from  Britain  to  the  Euphrates, 

139 


140  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

the  greatest  quiet  that  the  world  has  ever  known — 
the  Pax  Romana.  It  was  along  the  road  that  Rome, 
the  Queen  of  the  Seven  Hills,  sent  her  messages  to 
her  people. 

Ahead  of  them  on  the  road,  they  could  see  a  small 
city,  Neapolis.  On  reaching  this  place,  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas found  that  at  the  chief  caravanserai  not  only 
could  such  travellers  as  themselves  get  food  and  lodg- 
ing, but  men  could  shelter  their  beasts  in  the  spacious 
stables  or  hire  relays  of  horses  for  swift  long-distance 
travel. 

A  wild  clatter  of  hoofs  and  a  shout  was  heard. 
Then  sweating  horses  were  reined  up,  and  bags  taken 
from  their  backs.  The  Roman  post  that  linked  all 
the  world  up  with  the  Imperial  Government  had  ridden 
in  from  the  cities  of  the  eastern  plain. 

All  was  bustle,  as  the  ostlers  led  fresh  horses  out; 
the  leather  bags  were  strapped  across  their  backs  with 
another  bag,  into  which  bread  and  olives  and  a  score 
of  dried  figs  were  stuffed.  The  fresh  horses  pawed 
the  paved  way  in  their  eagerness  to  start,  which  was 
satisfied  to  the  full  as  the  men  of  the  Roman  post,  with 
their  armed  guard,  mounted,  and  with  cracking  whips 
thundered  on  westward  through  Antioch  down  the 
Lycus  Valley  to  Ephesus,  where  they  shipped  across 
the  ^gean  and  the  Adriatic  to  Brundisium;  and  so 
galloped  up  the  Appian  Way  into  Rome  itseff . 

Paul — ^as  he  saw  the  dauntless  road  bridging  from 
east  to  west,  and  heard  the  departing  clatter  of  the 
horses'  hoofs — felt  growing  in  him  a  boundless  ambi- 
tion for  his  Good  News,  that  it  too  should  bridge  from 
east  to  west,  should  be  spread  from  end  to  end  of  that 


WORSHIPPED  AND  STONED  141 

road;  that  he  himself,  Paul,  should  be  God's  Imperial 
Post  who  would  ride  the  road  from  end  to  end  de- 
livering the  Word. 

So  Paul  and  Barnabas  pressed  on  eastward,  passing 
caravans  of  laden  camels  coming  up  from  the  distant 
sea  of  the  Greek  islands  and  cities,  and  meeting  others 
coming  down  from  the  far-off  Sea  of  the  Desert — 
from  Persia  and  even  Paul's  own  old  birthplace. 
Tarsus. 

At  last  they  came  to  a  fork  where  the  great  road 
went  on  eastward,  but  a  branch  ran  north  over  the 
shoulder  of  two  twin  peaks  that  stood  out  against  the 
skyline. 

Turning  up  this  branch  road,  they  climbed  the  side 
of  the  hill,  and,  at  a  curve  in  the  road,  came  out  in 
sight  of  a  great  plain.  In  the  midst  of  it,  still  far 
away,  was  a  walled  city. 

It  was  Iconium,  though  Paul,  as  he  stood  on  the 
height  and  looked  at  the  city,  must  have  thought  of 
the  day  when — from  another  ridge — he  looked  down 
on  Damascus. 

For  Iconium,  like  Damascus,  lay  in  a  plain  of  lovely 
orchards,  flanked  by  mountains  on  the  west  watered 
by  a  river  running  out  from  mountains,  and,  in  each 
case,  the  river  then  lost  itself  in  the  earth.  Iconium 
and  Damascus  share  the  honour  of  being  the  oldest 
cities  in  the  world  that  are  still  standing.  They  will 
always  live,  for  they  are  the  first  places  where  men 
find  water  after  long  distances  of  arid  country; — 
they  are  ports  of  the  desert. 

Down  the  hill  and  across  the  flat,  by  the  streams 
and  canals  that  carried  the  melted  snow-water  and  the 


142  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

spring  rains  in  among  the  orchards,  the  road  brought 
them  at  length  into  Iconium. 

Though  the  two  comrades  had  travelled  some  ninety- 
miles  from  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  they  were  still  in  the 
great  region  over  which  Antioch  ruled.  As  they 
walked  through  the  streets  of  Iconium,  they  noticed 
that  there  were  not  so  many  Roman  officials  and  sol- 
diers as  in  Antioch.  Both  Antioch  and  Iconium  were 
Roman  cities,  where  Greek  was  spoken  except  by  the 
poorer  and  the  country  people;  but  Antioch  was  a 
great  governing  city,  while  Iconium  was  a  place  of 
commerce  where  many  traders  came  and  went  from 
all  over  the  east  and  west  to  do  business. 

Out  among  the  hills,  where  the  men  dug  in  the 
copper  and  the  quicksilver  mines,  was  the  temple  of 
the  Earth-Mother,  whom  all  the  people  in  the  plain 
worshipped.-  She  dwelt  in  the  earth  (they  thought) 
and  sent  them  the  precious  metals,  the  river  that 
sprang  from  the  hills,  and  the  harvest  out  of  the 
ground.  The  Greeks  taught  the  people  of  Iconium 
to  worship  her  as  Athene,  the  conquering  goddess; 
but  they  still  worshipped  her  really  as  the  Earth- 
Mother  with  her  companion  Snake,  who  came  out  of 
the  earth  to  do  her  bidding. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the 
Sabbath,  just  as  they  had  done  at  Antioch,  to  speak 
about  Jesus. 

So  powerfully  did  they  both  speak  that  a  great 
number  of  people — both  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks — 
beheved  that  what  they  said  was  true.  But  some  of 
the  Jews  utterly  refused  to  accept  the  story. 

"Jhese  travelling   fellows,"   we  can  almost  hear 


WORSHIPPED  AND  STONED  143 

them  saying,  *'  are  just  lying  for  their  own  ends, 
with  their  wild  legend  about  this  Christ,  Who  died 
on  a  Roman  cross,  like  those  wretched  robbers  nailed 
up  at  the  cross-roads  over  the  plain  there.  The  blas- 
phemy of  saying  such  a  one  could  rise  again !  " 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  communication  between 
Antioch  and  Iconium,  so  it  would  be  very  likely  that 
some  trader  or  official  who  had  come  to  Iconium  from 
Antioch  would  say: 

"  What !  Are  these  wretches  here  ?  Why,  we 
chased  them  out  of  Antioch  for  a  disturbing  couple  of 
meddlers.    Why  don't  you  do  the  same?  " 

Those  Jews  who  loathed  Paul  and  Barnabas  and 
all  their  words  and  works,  exasperated  the  people  in 
the  market-place  and  all  over  the  city  against  the  two 
comrades.  The  whole  place  began  to  be  in  a  fever  of 
excitement;  some  crying,  "  Stone  them!  "  though  not 
quite  sure  for  what  reason  except  that  they  were  two 
"  outsiders."  But  others  said,  "  Why,  what  harm 
have  they  done? " 

But  the  fever  of  hate  grew  hotter;  the  people 
began  to  come  on  with  menaces  and  mutterings  against 
them.  So  Paul  and  Barnabas  quickly  escaped  and 
started  out  across  the  plain.  All  day  they  walked, 
the  road  gradually  rising  till  they  found  themselves 
on  a  long  ridge  of  rock  looking  down  on  a  broad 
valley  through  which  a  beautiful  stream  ran.  On  the 
horizon  south-eastward  they  saw  the  line  of  the  Taurus 
mountains. 

Dropping  down  the  road  from  the  ridge  to  the 
valley  they  saw  a  compact  city  built  around  and  on  a 
little  hill.    The  stream  ran  past  two  sides  of  the  city, 


144.  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

which  was  called  Lystra.  They  were  back  again  now 
on  the  road  from  which — you  remember — they  had 
branched  off  to  go  to  Iconium.  And  Lystra  was — like 
Antioch — a  Roman  Colony,  a  centre  of  government 
from  which  the  orders  of  Rome  were  issued  and  her 
authority  exercised.  It  was,  however,  smaller,  more 
remote  and  newer  than  Antioch. 

In  front  of  the  main  gate  of  the  city,  near  which 
the  river  flowed,  was  a  fine  temple  to  Zeus — the  chief 
of  the  gods — where  bulls  were  sacrificed  by  white- 
robed  priests.  There  was  a  prophetic  legend  in  Lystra 
that'  some  day  Zeus  himself,  with  his  messenger 
Hermes,  would  come  and  visit  the  city. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  went  in  through  the  gate  into 
the  streets  of  the  city,  where  they  stayed  for  some 
time. 

One  day  Paul  was  speaking  out  in  the  open  air. 
Crowds  of  people  had  gathered  to  listen  to  him.  There 
happened  to  be  sitting  there  a  man  powerless  in  his 
feet,  a  lame  man  who  had  been  unable  to  walk  since 
he  was  born. 

This  man  heard  Paul  speaking,  and  was  listening 
to  him  with  rapt  attention.  Paul  looked  at  the  lame 
man  and  could  see,  from  the  utter  confidence  in  his 
eyes,  that  the  man  had  faith  enough  to  make  him 
better.  Paul,  therefore,  stopped  his  speech,  turned  to 
the  man,  looked  at  him  with  that  eager,  compelling 
gaze  of  his  and  said,  in  a  loud  voice : 

"  Stand  erect  on  your  feet." 

He  jumped  up  and  began  to  walk. 

The  crowd  of  Lystrans  could  not  for  the  moment 
believe  their  eyes.      This  was  no  wandering  beggar 


WORSHIPPED  AND  STONED  145 

who  had  pretended  to  be  lame.  He  was  one  of  their 
own  people  whom  they  knew  to  be  a  cripple.  They 
began  to  shout  out  in  strange  language  that  Paul  did 
not  understand — the  speech  of  their  country,  the 
Lycaonian  language : 

"  The  gods  have  come  down  to  us  as  men." 

Zeus  was  the  greatest  of  the  gods,  and  the  Eastern 
people  think  of  the  silent,  immovable  man  as  the 
potentate;  Hermes  was  his  spokesman,  his  swift- 
flying,  ready-tongued  messenger.^  So  they  named  the 
quiet,  gracious  Barnabas,  Zeus;  and  Paul,  the  orator, 
they  called  Hermes. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  saw  a  great  stir  going  on,  and 
put  it  down  simply  to  the  natural  effect  of  the  wonder 
of  healing  the  cripple.  But  soon  they  heard  the  lowing 
of  oxen;  and  saw  them  all  garlanded  being  led  along 
toward  the  great  Temple  of  Zeus  in  front  of  the 
gate.  The  truth  flashed  on  them.  The  people 
thought  they  were  gods — mistook  them  for  the  very 
gods  whose  worship  Paul's  preaching  would  sweep 
away. 

When  the  Eastern  wishes  to  show  his  utter  grief 
he  will  tear  his  robe.  At  the  sight  of  the  priests  and 
the  oxen,  Paul  and  Barnabas  seized  their  robes  and 
rent  them  from  neck  to  hem,  and  sprang  out  among 
the  people,  shouting  out  at  the  top  of  their  voices : 

*'  Men,  what  is  this  you  are  doing?  We  are  men, 
with  natures  like  your  own. 

"  The  Good  News  we  have  come  to  tell  you  is  that 

you  should  turn  from  such  futile  ways  to  the  living 

*  Zeus  and  Hermes  are  the  Greek  equivalents  for  Jupiter  and 
Mercury. 


146  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

God,  Who  made  the  heaven,  the  earth,  the  sea,  and 
all  that  is  in  them. 

"  In  bygone  days  He  allowed  all  the  nations  to 
go  their  own  ways,  though,  as  the  bountiful  Giver, 
He  did  not  leave  Himself  without  witnesses.  For 
he  gave  you  rain  from  heaven  and  fruitful  seasons, 
giving  you  food  and  joy  to  your  hearts'  content." 

Try  as  they  would  with  words  and  gestures  they 
could  hardly  stop  the  people  from  sacrificing  the  oxen 
to  them.  At  last  the  oxen  were  turned  back,  the 
garlands  taken  off,  the  priests  put  aside  their  sacrifi- 
cial robes;  and  all  was  quiet  once  more. 

Some  time  after  this  more  travelling  Jews  came 
into  the  city  of  Lystra;  a  number  from  Antioch  along 
the  main  road,  others  from  Iconium. 

No  sooner  did  they  find  that  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  at  Lystra  than  they  began  to  work  up  an  agita- 
tion against  them. 

With  crafty  speech  they  went  in  and  out  among  the 
simpler  people  working  on  their  unthinking  passions, 
their  dislike  of  strange  teaching  and  new  people.  A 
man  who  knows  how  to  work  on  the  mind  of  a  mob 
can  always  work  up  an  Oriental  crowd  into  a  frenzy  to 
stone  a  stranger.  "  Stone  Paul ! "  was  the  cry  that 
went  from  lip  to  lip. 

So  as  he  went  into  the  street  in  Lystra,  threading  his 
way  among  the  people,  the  flame  of  hate  caught  fire. 

**  Stone  him !  "  shouted  someone,  and  in  a  moment 
the  air  was  thick  with  missiles.  The  recollection  of 
his  healing  of  a  cripple  was  wiped  out  in  the  hail  of 
hate.  They  beat  him  to  the  ground,  and  then,  stunned 
by  a  well-aimed  stone,  he  lay  senseless  on  the  earth. 


WORSHIPPED  AND  STONED  147 

"  Out  of  the  city  with  the  body !  "  was  the  next  cry. 

Gripping  him  under  che  arms  they  dragged  Paul 
along  and  out  under  the  city  gateway,  past  the  very 
temple  where  they  had  prepared,  only  a  short  while 
before,  to  worship  him  and  Barnabas,  and  flung  him 
out  in  the  sun. 


xy 

THE  RETURN  JOURNEY 

THE  disciples  in  Lystra,  as  soon  as  they  heard  the 
uproar,  ran  out,  and  were  now  gathered  anx- 
iously round  the  body  of  their  leader. 

Was  Paul  dead?  As  they  asked  one  another  the 
question,  dreading  the  expected  answer,  they  saw, 
to  their  joy,  the  eyes  of  their  loved  chief  open.  Slowly 
he  stood  up,  his  body  bruised  in  every  limb;  but  alive 
and  undaunted.  With  his  supporters  round  him  he 
walked  right  back  into  the  city  whence  he  had  just 
been  thrown  as  dead.  Awed,  perhaps,  by  the  rising 
of  this  man  whom  they  thought  to  be  killed,  and  held 
in  unwilling  admiration  for  courage  that  never  faltered 
or  quailed,  not  a  man  stooped  to  lift  a  stone  against 
him. 

Paul  walked  back  to  the  house  in  which  he  and 
Barnabas  were  staying  in  Lystra.  Putting  their  light 
travelling  kit  together — the  staff  and  cloak,  the  water- 
jar  and  wallet  of  bread  and  olives — they  laid  down 
and  slept  in  preparation  for  the  journey  of  to-morrow. 
At  dawn,  the  two  went  out  from  Lystra  across  the 
plain  eastward  along  the  road.  Probably  they  would 
hire  an  ass  on  which  Paul  could  ride,  so  that  his 
bruised  and  buffeted  body  should  be  able  to  stand 
the  strain  of  travel.  All  day  long  they  marched, 
talking  of  the  hate  in  the  hearts  of  the  Jews — on  ac- 

148 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  149 

count   A  the  Good  News,  the  hate  that  had  driven 

them  w  ith  stones  from  Antioch-in-Pisidia,  from  Iconi- 

um  an  (  now  from  Lystra. 

Paujs   memory   could   not   but   run   back   to   the 

stoning  of  Stephen  to  which  he  himself  had  consented. 

He  recalled,  again  and  again,  how  he  had  harried  the 

Christians  in  Jerusalem.     There  came  back  to  him 

those 

"...  remembered  faces, 
Dear  men  and  women,  whom  I  sought  and  slew ! 
Ah,  when  we  mingle  in  the  heavenly  places, 
How  will  I  weep  to  Stephen  and  to  you! 

O!  for  the  strain  that  rang  to  our  reviling 
Still  when  the  bruised  limbs  sank  upon  the  sod, 
O !  for  the  eyes  that  looked  their  last  in  smiling. 
Last  on  this  world  here,  but  there  first  on  God." 

Out  over  the  brown,  rolling  hills,  where  the  harvests 
had  now  been  reaped,  the  two  comrades  went  sturdily. 
Overhead  the  storks  were  now  beginning  to  trail  back 
to  Jordan  and  the  South  before  the  winter  snows 
came. 

At  length  Paul  and  Barnabas  came  up  a  long  slope, 
from  which  the  road  ran  down  into  a  broad  plain. 
From  the  ridge  of  the  hill  where  they  stood  they 
could  see  down  over  the  vast  plateau,  across  which  the 
Taurus  mountains  were  now  beginning  to  cast  the 
shadows  of  late  afternoon.  Out  of  the  plain  there  rose 
the  abrupt  mass  of  a  black  mountain.  And  there,  on  a 
slight  hill  in  the  midst  of  the  plateau,  they  saw  the 
walls  of  a  city.     It  was  Derbe. 

Paul  and  Barnabas,  trudging  and  riding  down  the 
last  league  of  the  Roman  road,  saw  that  Derbe  was  a 


150  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

smaller  city  than  Iconium  or  Lystra  or  Antioch-in- 
Pisidia.  But  its  walls  were  just  as  thick  as  Jl  ose  of 
the  greater  cities.  For  Derbe  was  the  eastern  f  r  )ntier- 
town  of  the  province  of  Galatia.  Up  in  the  mo  .ntains 
some  of  the  most  daring  robbers  in  the  wo;ld  hid 
in  their  fortresses,  from  which  they  rushed  down  in 
bands  on  the  rich  travellers  who  rode  up  to  Derbe 
from  the  east. 

Quietly  the  two  men  settled  down  in  this  border- 
city  of  Derbe  for  the  winter.  The  few  late  travellers 
who  came  over  the  mountain-pass  from  the  south-east 
would  tell  of  new-fallen  snow;  and  soon  the  flow  of 
camel  caravans  ceased  altogether.  The  pass  was 
blocked  with  snow,  and  the  great  black  guardian 
mountain  of  the  plain  was  all  white. 

Paul  would  soon  find  work  to  do,  making  and  mend- 
ing tents  for  the  shepherds  and  travellers,  so  that  he 
could  live  without  cost  to  anyone  else.  He  could  talk 
as  he  worked,  and  the  people  would  squat  round  him 
in  his  booth,  asking  questions  and  discussing  the 
strange  news  that  he  brought  to  them,  that  God  had 
spoken  to  men  in  a  Son — Jesus  Christ.  A  number  of 
the  people  of  Derbe  were  convinced  that  what  these 
two  travelling  teachers  said  was  true;  and  they  gave 
themselves  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ  and  be- 
came His  disciples. 

The  winter  wore  on  to  spring-time.  Avalanches 
of  snow  thundered  down  from  the  solitary  mountain 
to  the  plain,  leaving  its  stark  black  mass  jutting  into 
the  bright  sky.  But  the  narrow  pass  through  the 
Taurus  range  was  still  stopped  by  the  deep  snow. 

All  the  life  of  the  plateau  began  to  move  again  in 


PAUL    AND    BARNABAS    TRAVELLING    ON    THE     PLATEAU 
"  From  Iconium  they  trudged  over  the  ridge." 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  151 

the  spring,  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  joined  the  stream 
of  caravans  that  began  to  travel  up  and  down  the  road. 
They  turned  their  faces  to  the  west,  and  tramped  up 
by  the  road  along  which  they  had  come  in  the  autumn. 
They  came  again  in  sight  of  the  Temple  at 
Lystra,  and  went  fearlessly  into  the  city  where — only 
a  few  months  earlier — Paul  was  stoned.  There  they 
spoke  to  the  disciples,  and  told  them  that  they  must 
grip  the  Faith  firmly  and  live  in  daily  conversation 
with  their  Unseen  Saviour. 

*'  It  will  not  be  easy,"  said  Paul,  "  for  we  have  to 
get  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  through  many  a 
trouble." 

They  would  listen  respectfully  to  Paul  as  he  said 
this,  for  they  knew,  by  the  evidence  of  their  own  eyes, 
that  even  stoning  would  not  move  him  from  the  Faith, 
and  that  his  courage  and  loyalty  were  not  shaken  by 
all  the  threats  of  his  persecutors. 

Then  he  would  go  on  in  words  like  those  which  he 
repeated  to  these  very  people  later  on  in  a  letter : 

"  People  who  quarrel  and  are  jealous  or  ill-tem- 
pered, or  impure,  never  come  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

"  Let  us  have  no  vanity,  no  provoking. 

"  Those  who  belong  to  Christ  have  put  their  flesh 
— with  its  hot  passion — on  the  Cross. 

"  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  self- 
control." 

Then  Paul  and  Barnabas  chose  out  some  of  the 
strongest  of  the  disciples  in  Lystra  and  appointed 


152  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

them  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  little  church.  Saying 
"  Farewell "  to  the  disciples  at  Lystra,  they  walked 
back  over  the  eighteen  miles  to  Iconium.  As  they 
came  near,  in  the  afternoon,  the  twin  peaks,  with  their 
caps  of  snow,  shone  as  the  sun  went  down. 

From  Iconium  they  trudged  over  the  ridge  to  the 
great  Roman  road  and  westward  once  more  to  Anti- 
och-in-Pisidia.  At  each  place  they  cheered  the  Chris- 
tian people,  telling  them  to  stand  firm,  to  expect  rough 
times,  and  to  face  them  for  the  sake  of  the  new 
Kingdom,  And  over  each  church,  leaders  were  placed 
to  guide  them.  We  do  not  hear  of  Paul  going  to 
synagogues  at  all  on  this  return  journey,  but  only  to 
the  bands  of  Christian  folk,  so  that  he  could  strengthen 
them. 

The  full  spring  had  now  come.  The  mountain- 
passes -were  open.  It  was  time  to  leave  the  plateau; 
to  go  back  to  the  Christians  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  who 
had  sent  them  out  two  years  ago,  and  to  tell  these 
friends  how  they  had  sped  in  their  journeys. 

Among  the  rolling  hills  of  Pisidia  the  snow  left  the 
bare  rocks  dully  glowing  in  reds  and  browns  that 
looked  as  though  hidden  fires  burned  in  the  mountain. 
Here  and  there  the  first  red  anemones  thrust  their 
heads  out,  like  tiny  tongues  of  flame. 

The  shrill  call  of  a  boy  to  his  plaintive,  bleating  kids 
and  lambs,  as  they  leaped  the  bare  hillside  in  search  of 
new  grass,  came  to  their  ears;  the  ploughman  goading 
his  lumbering  oxen  while  they  slowly  crossed  the  field; 
the  vine-dresser  digging  about  the  roots  of  his  trees, 
came  to  their  eyes. 

They  climbed  to  the  crest  of  the  range  and  then 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  153 

plunged  down  southward  through  the  grey  pine- 
covered  ravines,  up  which  they  had  come  early  in  the 
preceding  summer.  During  all  that  time  they  had 
breathed  the  sharp  air  of  the  plateau  cities — standing 
between  three  and  four  thousand  feet  above  sea-level. 
Now  they  were  quickly  dropping  down  to  the  hot, 
close,  damp  plains  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea,  where  the  snow  rarely  came. 

The  spring  rains  and  the  melting  snows  of  the 
mountains  turned  the  burns  into  torrents,  which  ran 
in  full  spate  down  the  ravine.  Far,  far  below  they 
came  to  the  place  where  the  stream  was  spanned  by 
a  bridge  that  carried  Paul  and  Barnabas  across  to  the 
great  city  of  Perga,  where  he  had  been  smitten  with 
fever  on  his  way  up. 

They  preached  to  the  people  in  Perga,  and  then, 
instead  of  taking  ship  from  the  river-harbour,  they 
started  over  the  Pamphylian  plain  round  the  curve 
of  the  bay  to  the  sea-harbour  of  Attalia.  As  they 
travelled  they  would  pass  droves  of  donkeys  and  cara- 
vans of  camels,  carrying  the  wool  of  the  mountain 
sheep  and  goats,  the  oil  of  the  olives  and  the  dried 
fruit  from  the  orchards  down  to  be  shipped  to  the 
great  cities  like  Rome  and  Alexandria  and  Antioch, 

By  the  quay  they  found  a  ship  bound  for  Seleucia. 
Taking  a  passage,  they  soon  found  themselves  again 
on  the  Great  Sea.  The  ship,  once  loosed  from  her 
cables  and  rowed  out  between  the  mighty  stone  piers 
of  the  harbour,  turned  eastward  along  the  coast. 

Above  him,  on  the  left,  Paul  could  see  the  snow- 
covered  ridge  of  the  Taurus  mountains,  from  which  he 
and  Barnabas  had  just  descended.     As  he  thought 


154.  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

of  that  splendid  Roman  road  up  there  on  the  plateau 
with  its  cities,  and  remembered  those  Christian  people 
whom  he  had  left  there  vowed  to  the  Way,  he  saw, 
as  through  an  arch,  a  still  untravelled  world  of  won- 
derful possibility.  The  road  ran  west  as  well  as  east — 
and  west  lay  Ephesus,  Athens,  Corinth,  Rome.  Paul 
dared  to  dream  of  a  campaign  that  would  capture  those 
great  cities — and  the  mighty  empire  to  which  they 
belonged. 

The  ship  at  last  sighted  Seleucia.  Furling  her 
brown,  sails  and  skilfully  guided  by  the  steersman 
through  the  narrow  passage  between  the  piers,  she 
hove  to  in  the  inner  harbour.  Paul  and  Barnabas 
landed  and  hastened  up  the  riverside  to  Antioch. 

We  can  well  imagine  the  excitement  and  joy  of  the 
Brethren  there  at  seeing  their  missionaries  once  more. 
They  gathered  together  and  listened  to  the  story  of 
their  adventures.  Their  faces  lightened  with  joy  as  they 
heard  how  Sergius  Paulus,  a  Roman  proconsul,  had 
been  convinced  that  Christ  was  the  very  Son  of  God. 
But  their  faces  darkened  when  they  heard  how  Paul 
had  been  stoned  almost  to  death,  and  how  the  Jews  in 
Antioch  and  Iconium  and  Lystra  had  persecuted  them 
both. 

When  all  the  story  was  told,  however,  they  felt, 
above  all,  a  strange  gladness,  because  Jesus  Christ — 
they  were  now  quite  sure — was  the  Door  through 
whom  any  man,  Jew  or  Greek,  Roman  or  Egyptian, 
slave  or  master,  could  come  by  faith  into  the  very 
presence  of  God. 


XVI 

THE  DECISIVE  BATTLE 

TITUS  the  Greek,  and  Paul  the  Tarsian  were  at 
supper  in  Antioch,  with  a  sturdy,  bronzed  and 
bearded  man,  who  spoke  with  a  GaHlean  burr. 
Their  guest  was  Peter,  who  had  come  up  from  Jerusa- 
lem to  visit  the  Brethren  at  Antioch. 

He  found  among  the  Christian  folk  at  Antioch 
many  Greeks.  The  Church  in  Jerusalem,  where  Peter 
lived,  was  made  up  entirely  of  Jews.  But  Peter  (we 
remember)  had  had  his  great  vision  on  the  roof-top  at 
Joppa,  when  God  had  showed  him  that  he  was  not  to 
call  men  of  any  nation  unclean.  He  therefore  went 
in  and  took  food  at  the  same  table  with  these  Christian 
Greeks  at  Antioch. 

So  Peter  and  Titus,  Paul  and  Lucius,  Manaen  and 
the  others  broke  their  bread  and  ate  their  cheese  and 
olives  together  at  Antioch,  as  they  talked  over  the 
great  plans  that  they  had. 

Unknown  to  themselves,  however,  a  cloud  was  com- 
ing upon  them  from  beyond  the  south  of  Mount  Sul- 
pius.  Men  were  walking  over  the  hills  from  Jerusalem 
to  Antioch. 

They  were  Christians  whom  Peter  knew.  But 
they  thought  that  Jesus  had  come  simply  to  the  Jews 
alone,  as  their  own  Messiah.  The  disciples  of  Jesus 
(they  felt)    formed  just  another  party  among  the 

155 


156  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

Jews.  There  were  the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and 
now  the  Nazarenes. 

"  We  shall  be  swamped  by  foreigners ! "  was  the 
cry  they  raised  when  they  heard  Paul's  story  of  how 
a  Roman  ruler  in  Cyprus  and  the  Greeks  in  Galatia 
had  entered  into  the  Way  of  Christ  without  obeying 
the  Law  of  Moses. 

"  Keep  out  the  alien — the  Gentile,"  said  these  Chris- 
tians who  had  come  of  Paul's  old  sect — the  Pharisees. 
"  Jesus  was  a  Jew,  and  was  circumcised  (they 
argued) ;  He  preached  to  Jews,  His  disciples  were  all 
under  the  Law  of  Moses.  Jesus  came  from  God  to 
the  Chosen  People,  the  Jews — and  to  them  alone." 

Then  they  flung  down  their  challenge  to  Paul  and 
to  the  Greeks  in  the  Church  at  Antioch, 

"  Unless  you  are  circumcised  and  so  become  Jews," 
they  said,  "  after  the  custom  of  Moses,  you  cannot 
be  saved." 

It  came  like  the  blow  of  an  axe,  cleaving  the  Church 
in  two. 

Peter,  who — now,  as  in  the  old  days — was  easily 
carried  away,  began  to  hold  aloof  from  the  Greek 
Christians.  Even  Barnabas  showed  signs  of  giving 
way,  and  of  joining  the  narrow  party.  The  Jews  in 
the  Church  were  against  Paul;  while  the  Greeks,  on 
the  other  side,  were  in  alarm,  because  their  whole 
position  as  Christians  was  denied. 

Paul's  blood  was  up.  He  turned  on  Peter  before  al] 
the  others  and  denounced  him. 

"  You  stand  self-condemned,"  he  said.  "  You, 
Peter,  have  been  living  like  a  foreigner,  though  you 
are  a  Jew.     How,   then,   dare  you   insist   that  the 


THE  DECISIVE  BATTLE  157 

foreigners  should  become  Jews  when  they  worship  in 
the  name  of  Christ?  If  a  man  must  have  a  mark  cut 
on  his  body  before  he  can  be  saved — why,  what  was 
the  use  of  Jesus  Christ  Hving  and  dying  to  bring  us 
near  to  God?  I  tell  you,  circumcision  and  uncircum- 
cision  are  just  nothing.  What  matters  is  the  new 
man  whom  Christ  makes," 

With  the  Brethren  divided  into  two  parties  of  Jews 
and  Greeks,  it  was  quite  clear  that  this  question  must 
be  settled  once  for  all.  And  it  must  be  settled  at  Jeru- 
salem or  it  would  all  break  out  again,  for  Jerusalem 
was  the  centre  of  the  Jew  party. 

Paul  and  Barnabas,  with  some  of  the  others, 
were  sent  off  by  the  Christians  of  Antioch  to  Jeru- 
salem. 

As  this  little  group  of  men  with  their  cloaks  and 
water-bottles  and  walking-staffs  set  out  along  the  road, 
few  people,  except  the  Greek  Christians  who  went  out 
to  cheer  them,  would  know  or  care  on  what  enterprise 
they  were  going.  But,  to  those  with  eyes  to  see,  this 
was,  indeed,  one  of  the  great  moments  in  history. 
Paul  was  starting  out — as  surely  as  any  knight  has 
ever  done — to  fight  one  of  the  great  decisive  battles 
of  the  world,  almost  alone. 

For  he  was  the  only  man  among  them  all  who  had 
really  cut  a  clear,  straight  way  through  the  tangled 
forest  of  thought  on  this  question.  His  banner  had 
one  phrase  upon  it,  "  Freedom  in  Christ."  He  alone 
never  wavered  by  a  hair's  breadth  from  declaring  that 
Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  not  to  save  Jews 
alone,  but  all  men,  whatever  their  colour  or  race  or 
country  or  nation,  rich  and  poor,  men  and  women; 


158  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

and  that,  in  Him,  men  were  free  from  the  ancient 
bondage  of  the  Law  of  Moses. 

If  Paul  had  surrendered  with  Peter  or  wavered  with 
Barnabas,  unless  some  other  courageous  large-minded 
man  like  him  had  been  raised  up,  Christianity  would 
have  ceased  to  be  missionary;  which  means  that  it 
must  have  ceased  to  be.  Britain,  and  indeed  Europe 
itself,  would  never  have  heard  of  Jesus  Christ.  His 
followers  would  have  dwindled  to  a  miserable  little 
Jewish  sect. 

The  Church  at  Antioch,  now  that  they  saw  through 
the  eyes  of  Paul  all  that  this  meant,  were  intensely 
eager  to  see  the  question  fought  out.  So  they  went 
out  down  the  road  quite  a  long  way,  cheering  Paul 
and  Barnabas  and  the  rest  on  their  journey. 

At  last  they  said  "  farewell,"  and  the  deputation 
travelled  down  by  the  coast  to  the  ancient  cities  of 
Phoenicia — Tyre  and  Sidon.  It  was  probably  winter- 
time. Up  in  the  high  mountain-passes — inland — the 
roads  were  blocked  with  deep  snowdrifts,  where  the 
blizzard  would  blind  the  struggling  traveller.  But  on 
the  lower  road,  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea, 
though  it  was  wild  and  stormy,  the  snow  soon  melted. 
So  they  wrapped  their  cloaks  about  them  and  breasted 
storm  and  wind;  and  walked  gladly  and  quickly  when 
the  sun  shone  in  the  sharp,  clear,  frosty  morning. 
Sometimes  the  road  ran  down  by  a  riverbed,  and 
sometimes  it  was  cut  out  of  the  face  of  the  rock  look- 
ing over  the  sea.  There,  on  the  Phoenician  coast  they 
saw,  cut  in  the  rock,  strange  figures  and  curious  letters 
which  no  man  among  them  could  read;  letters  carved 
by  an  ancient   race  that  had   conquered  the  north 


THE  DECISIVE  BATTLE  169 

country  ages  before  Paul  came.     This  ancient  people 
we  call  the  Hittites. 

At  last  they  came  over  a  high  cliff  in  sight  of  the 
crowded  harbour-city  of  Sidon.  Here  the  people  heard 
with  great  joy  how  Jesus  Christ  had  been  placarded 
before  the  eyes  of  the  foreign  peoples  in  the  far-off 
cities  over  the  sea;  and  how  those  people,  without  pass- 
ing under  the  Jewish  Law  at  all,  had  heard  and  ac- 
cepted the  Good  News  of  the  coming  of  Jesus,  They 
then  went  on  farther  south,  along  the  coast  to  the 
city  of  Tyre.  Paul  saw  the  fishers  coming  up  from 
the  beach  with  the  shellfish,  from  which  they  made 
the  purple  dye  which  no  one  before  or  since  has  ever 
equalled  for  beauty.  He  passed  by  the  evil-smelling 
vats,  where  the  wool  was  dipped  in  this  imperial  purple 
for  Roman  senators  and  knights  to  wear. 

Then  they  pushed  inland  and  had  little  to  say  to 
the  people  in  Judaea,  where  the  news  that  the  other 
nations  were  learning  through  Christ  their  nearness 
to  God  was  not  welcome  to  Jews.  When  the  travellers 
came  at  length  up  the  hill  under  the  city  gate  and  into 
Jerusalem,  it  must  have  seemed  strange  to  Paul  that 
he  was  going  to  fight — because  they  were  too  narrow 
as  Christians — the  very  people  whom  he  had,  years 
ago,  as  a  Pharisee,  harried  because  they  worshipped 
Christ  at  all. 

The  whole  Church  in  Jerusalem — with  the  apostles 
and  the  elders — met  together  to  discuss  with  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  They  sat  round,  with  James,  our  Lord's 
brother,  presiding  over  them. 

Paul  stood  up.  He  just  painted  for  them  the  picture 
of  how  Sergius  Paulus  in  Cyprus,  the  Greeks  and 


160  THE  FORWARD  TREAD  • 

Romans  in  the  great  cities  of  the  plateau,  had,  through 
their  preaching  about  Christ,  actually  and  truly  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Spirit.  There  it  was — a  living  flaming 
fact  that  God  had,  through  Christ,  given  His  Spirit 
to  uncircumcised  foreigners.  They  might  argue  that 
the  whole  Law  of  Moses  was  against  it,  but  there  stood 
the  Fact  which  they  could  not  gainsay.  God  was  free 
to  do  what  He  would  in  His  own  world ;  and  this  was 
what  He  had  done. 

Up  sprang  some  of  the  members  of  the  Pharisee 
party  .in  the  Church.  They  may  well  have  been  some 
of  Paul's  own  old  fellow-students. 

"  We  insist,"  they  said,  "  that  the  foreign  nations 
must  be  circumcised  and  must  obey  the  Law  of  Moses 
before  they  can  join  the  Christian  Church." 

To  which  Paul  would  reply,  "  If  a  man  can  be  made 
good  by  just  obeying  the  Law  of  Moses,  then  Jesus 
Christ  lived  and  died  for  nothing." 

The  leaders  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem  met  again 
(without  the  ordinary  members  being  present),  and 
began  to  wrangle  violently  about  the  matter.  Their 
eyes  burned  as  the  discussion  grew  hot.  There  was 
danger  of  a  quarrel  that  would  split  the  whole  Church. 
By  this  time  Peter  was  his  old  self  again,  completely 
convinced  that  Paul  was  right,  and  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  bring  all  men  together  into  the  love  of  God. 
So  he  stood  up  and  said : 

*'  Brothers,  you  know  very  well  that,  from  the 
earliest  days,  God  chose  that  I  should  be  the  one 
through  whom  Nations  should  hear  the  Word  of  the 
Good  News  and  should  believe  it. 

"  God,  who  reads  the  hearts  of  everyone,  proved 


THE  DECISIVE  BATTLE  161 

it  by  giving  these  foreign  people  the  Holy  Spirit,  ex- 
actly as  He  gave  Him  to  us.  In  making  their  hearts 
clean  by  faith  He  did  not  make  the  slightest  distinction 
between  us  and  them. 

"  Why  now  should  you  try  to  put  a  yoke  on  the 
neck  of  these  disciples  which  neither  our  fathers  ripr 
ourselves  could  bear? 

"  No,  depend  upon  it,  it  is  by  the  grace  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  that  we  believe  and  are  saved,  in  the  same 
way  as  they  are." 

All  the  wrangling  stopped  and  everyone  listened 
with  breathless  attention,  as  Paul  and  Barnabas  stood 
up  and  told  again  the  wonderful  things  that  God  had 
done  among  the  Nations. 

When  they  had  finished,  James  stood  to  put  what 
he  felt  to  be  the  general  agreement  of  the  meeting. 

"  Brothers,"  he  said,  "  listen  to  me.  Simeon  has 
explained  to  us  how  it  was  God's  original  intention  to 
gather  a  People  from  among  the  foreign  nations  to 
bear  His  Name.  And  this  agrees  with  the  prophet, 
who  said  of  David's  fallen  tent : 

"  '  I  will  build  it  afresh, 
That    the  rest  of   men   may   seek   for   the   Lord, 
Even    all   the    Nations    that    are    called   by    My    Name.' 

"  For  that  reason  my  opinion  is  that  we  ought  not 
to  put  fresh  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  Nations. 
But  we  should  write  to  them,  telling  them  to  obey  the 
Law  in  four  points:  to  abstain  from  any  food  that 
has  been  killed  for  idol  worship,  to  live  pure  lives, 
not  to  eat  animals  that  have  been  strangled  (i.e.  in 
whose  veins  the  blood  still  remains),  and  not  to  taste 
blood." 


162  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

This  was  agreed  to,  and  some  of  the  Jerusalem 
men  were  selected  to  go  up  to  Antioch  with  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  So  they  chose  Judas  Bar-Sabbas  and  Silas, 
who  were  well-known  members  of  the  Christian 
Brotherhood  in  Jerusalem. 

A  letter  was  written  on  a  fine  parchment  and  rolled 
up  and  thrust  into  the  tunic  of  one  of  the  travel- 
lers, probably  Judas  Bar-Sabbas.  Thus  prepared, 
they  set  out  to  tramp  back  northward  over  the 
long  road,  by  hill  and  lake  and  river  and  plain,  to 
Antioch. 

There  was  great  eagerness  at  Antioch  to  know  what 
was  the  result,  and  all  the  Christian  folk  gathered  to- 
gether to  hear  it.  The  letter  was  brought  out  and  un- 
rolled and  handed  over  to  one  of  the  Antiochenes, 
who  read  it  out  to  them.    The  letter  said : 

"  Fi-om  the  apostles  and  elders  of  the  Brotherhood, 
to  the  brothers  who  belong  to  the  Nations  throughout 
Antioch  and  Syria  and  Cilicia,  greeting. 

"  We  hear  that  some  of  our  number,  quite  without 
our  authority,  have  upset  you  with  their  teaching; 
so  we  have  made  up  our  minds  to  choose  some  of  our 
men  and  to  send  them  along  with  our  loved  com- 
rades, Paul  and  Barnabas,  who  have  risked  their  lives 
for  the  sake  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  We  therefore  send  Judas  and  Silas  with  the  fol- 
lowing message,  which  they  will  also  give  to  you  by 
word  of  mouth. 

"  The  Holy  Spirit  and  we  have  decided  not  to  place 
any  extra  burden  on  you,  apart  from  these  four 
things." 


THE  DECISIVE  BATTLE  163 

Then  followed  the  four  things  named  in  James's 
speech. 

The  letter  ended  thus : 

"  Keep  clear  of  all  this  and  you  will  prosper.  Good- 
bye." 

After  all,  it  was  not  a  very  clear  letter,  because  it 
tried  to  reconcile  two  points  of  view  that  never  could 
agree.  It  tried  to  make  some  minor  parts  of  the 
Law  binding,  while  allowing  general  freedom.  But 
the  great  point  was  gained.  The  Greeks  were  to  be 
free  from  the  necessity  to  come  under  the  law  of 
circumcision.  The  Greek  Christians  at  Antioch  made 
great  rejoicing,  their  love  for  and  admiration  of  Paul, 
their  great  leader,  grew  deeper  and  stronger. 

The  first  battle  in  his  long  campaign  for  freedom 
was  won  against  great  odds  at  the  very  centre  of  the 
enemies'  strength — in  Jerusalem. 


XVII 

FIfNDING  A  SON 

SOME  days  later,  as  Paul  was  talking  to  Barnabas, 
he  said : 

"  Come,  Barnabas,  let  us  go  back  and  visit  the 
brothers  in  every  town  where  we  have  proclaimed  the 
iWord.    Let  us  see  how  they  are  doing." 

Barnabas  said,  "  Yes,  I  agree.  Who  shall  we  take 
with  us  ?    I  suggest  my  nephew,  young  John  Mark." 

Paul  frowned  at  this.  "  I  do  not  want,"  he  said, 
*'  to  have  as  our  helper  the  man  who  turned  back  and 
shirked  the  dangers  of  carrying  the  message  when  we 
were  in  Pamphylia." 

It  would  not  be  easy  for  Paul  to  avoid  hurting 
Barnabas'  feelings  in  telling  him  that  his  nephew, 
John  Mark,  had  not  the  spirit  of  courage  and  the 
sturdiness  needed  in  men  who  must  be  ready  to  risk 
their  lives  at  any  hour  and  take  a  stoning  or  a  beating 
without  flinching.  Indeed,  it  is  likely  that  Paul's  quick 
temper  would  lead  him  to  say  this  abruptly.  Barna- 
bas maybe  thought  that  John  Mark  ought  to  have  a 
second  chance;  but  Paul  would  not  take  the  risk.  We 
can  see  that  he  was  right  in  thinking  that  they  must 
not  have  a  man  with  them  who  would  fail  at  a  pinch. 

In  any  case,  what  Paul  said  made  Barnabas  so 
angry  that  he  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  his 
old  friend.    Barnabas  took  his  kinsman,  young  John 

164 


FINDING  A  SON  165 

Mark,  and  went  off  on  a  missionary  journey  to  his 
native  place,  Cyprus,  leaving  Paul  in  Antioch. 

It  cut  Paul  to  the  quick  to  part  from  the  great  com- 
rade of  his  first  journey.  He  and  Barnabas  had  faced 
stoning,  fever  and  robbers  together;  and  had  shared 
the  perils  of  river  and  road  and  sea.  But  Paul  knew 
that  he  was  on  a  great  enterprise,  where  any  man  was 
unfit  who  (like  John  Mark)  quailed  before  death  or 
feared  to  take  any  adventure  that  might  come  to  him. 

Paul  never  thought  of  himself  as  a  hero;  he  only 
knew  that  he  cared  so  much  for  the  carrying  out  of 
God's  great  aim  that  he  forgot  his  own  safety.  So 
Paul  could  claim  rightly: 

"  I  prove  myself  at  all  points  a  true  servant  to  God, 
By  great  endurance,  by  suffering. 
By  troubles,  by  calamities, 
By  lashes,  by  imprisonment; 
Mobbed,  toiling,  sleepless,  starving."  ^ 

So  even  for  the  love  of  Barnabas,  his  comrade,  he 
could  not  take  with  him  a  man  like  John  Mark,  whom 
he  believed  to  be  unready  to  face  all  these  things. 

Barnabas,  therefore,  all  sore  and  angry  in  spirit, 
went  down  with  John  Mark  to  the  port  at  Seleucia  to 
set  sail  westward.  We  do  not  hear  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  ever  met  again. 

Paul  went  to  ask  the  friend  with  whom  he  had  had 

many  talks  on  their  way  up   from  the  Council  at 

Jerusalem — Silas — whether  he  would  go  out  on  the 

long,  perilous  journey  over  the  mountains  to  the  people 

^3  Cor.  vi.  4-5. 


166  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

of  the  plateau.  He — like  Paul — though  a  Jew,  was  a 
Roman  citizen.  His  full  Roman  name  was  Silvanus, 
but  his  friends  called  him  Silas  for  short. 

Paul  wanted  Silas  to  go  with  him,  across  the  Taurus 
mountains,  to  the  Roman  cities  of  Derbe  and  Lystra, 
Iconium  and  Antioch.  Silas  would  be  a  great  help 
to  Paul  there — not  only  because  he  was  a  Roman 
Jew,  but  because  he  had  been  at  the  Jerusalem  Council 
where  they  had  decided  on  the  message  to  the  Nations. 
The  strict  Christian  Jews  in  these  Roman  cities  of  the 
province  of  Galatia  might  say  that  Paul  was  a  crank 
without  any  authority  to  tell  the  Nations  they  might 
come  into  the  Fellowship  without  circumcision;  but 
they  would  find  it  difficult  to  say  such  things  to  Silas, 
who  came  from  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  itself  carry- 
ing a  letter  signed  by  James. 

Paul  and  his  new  friend,  Silas,  started  out  north- 
ward. A  little  band  of  the  Brethren  came  to  give 
them  a  send-off.  The  flush  of  sunrise  was  reflected 
in  the  Orontes  on  their  right  as  they  crossed  the  bridge 
which  carried  them  out  on  to  the  northern  plain. 

They  had  a  long  camping  journey  of  many  weeks 
ahead  of  them,  in  which  they  must  be  ready  to  wade 
across  streams,  skirt  lakes,  climb  great  mountain 
passes,  and  trudge  over  wide  plains.  They  would 
probably  take  asses  with  them,  who  would  carry,  in 
saddle-bags  slung  across  their  backs,  water-bottles, 
their  oil  and  cheese  and  olives  for  the  midday  meal, 
an  iron  crock  for  cooking  their  dish  of  corn  and  meat 
at  night,  their  hooded  cloaks  for  shelter  from  the  rain 
or  mountain  snow,  and  for  sleeping  in  at  night. 

Sometimes  they  joined  a  company  of  traders,  who 


FINDING  A  SON  167 

travelled  along  the  road  together  for  defence  against 
the  robbers.  They  would  take  special  care  to  do  this 
when  they  began  to  climb  from  the  great  plain,  round 
the  curving  roads  among  the  brown  hills,  and  up  into 
the  brigand-infested  ravines  of  the  mountains  that 
divided  Syria  (the  province  in  which  Damascus  and 
Antioch  lay)  from  Cilicia  (the  province  of  Paul's  own 
boyhood,  where  Tarsus  stood)/ 

Paul  and  Silas  talked  as  they  rode  along  or  walked 
by  the  side  of  the  asses.  Paul  was  very  proud  of  his 
native  city,  toward  which  they  were  travelling.  He 
would  be  sure  to  tell  Silas  stories  of  his  life  when  he 
was  a  boy  in  Tarsus  there.  He  could,  as  they  came  to 
rest  in  the  evening  at  one  of  the  caravan  centres,  point 
to  black  low  tents  stretched  around  them  on  the  camp- 
ing-ground, made  of  the  famous  Tarsian  goat's-hair 
cloth.  The  cloth  was  known  all  over  the  Roman 
Empire  as  cilicium,  because  it  came  from  this  Cilician 
plain  on  which  Paul  was  born. 

Silas  knew  that  Paul  had  been  trained  as  "  a  tent- 
maker."  Paul  could  tell  him,  "  I  intend  to  earn  my 
living  at  my  trade  whenever  I  stay  in  a  city  to  preach. 
In  that  way  I  shall  stop  men  from  saying  that  I  follow 
Christ  just  to  get  a  livelihood." 

We  can  be  certain  that  Silas  and  he  would  discuss 
the  quarrel  with  Barnabas,  and  they  would  wish  that 
there  were  some  younger  man  like  John  Mark,  only 
braver,  with  them  as  a  helper. 

"  There  is  a  young  fellow  in  Lystra  over  the  moun- 
tains," Paul  might  say,  "  named  Timothy  "  (i.e.  Fear- 
God).    "  He  became  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  when  I 

*  See  map  at  end. 


168  JHE  FORWARD  TREAD 

was  there.  His  father  is  a  Greek  and  his  mother  a 
Jewess.  I  believe  he  would  make  a  fine  helper  in  place 
of  John  Mark." 

Talking  in  this  way  they  came  down  among  the 
towns  in  the  Cilician  plain  where  Paul  preached  and 
taught  in  these  quiet  years  before  Barnabas  came  to 
fetch  him  to  Antioch.  As  Paul  came  through  the 
streets  of  these  towns  in  Cilicia,  the  faces  of  the  Chris- 
tian people,  cobbling  and  baking  in  their  little  shops, 
lighted  up  with  gladness  when  they  saw  their  old  friend 
come  back. 

They  would  run  and  bring  together  the  other 
Brethren  who  lived  in  the  town,  and  they  would  listen 
eagerly  to  Paul  who  had,  years  before,  by  his  teaching 
brought  them  into  the  new  and  splendid  Fellowship. 
iWe  are  not  told  what  he  said  to  them,  but  without 
doubt  he  would  say  simple,  straight  words  like  these 
which  he  wrote  to  his  friends: 

"  My  brothers,  whom  I  love  and  have  longed  to  see, 
stand  fast. 

"  I  wish  greatly  that  your  love  may  grow  more  and 
more  in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment;  so  that  you 
may  be  keen  on  the  things  that  are  really  good." 

Then  those  two  splendid  sentences  that  might  be 
the  command  of  a  commander  to  his  armies : 

"  Stand  fast  together  in  one  spirit,  with  one  mind, 
working  hard  together  for  the  Faith  of  the  Good 
News." 

"  Do  not  be  at  all  terrified  by  your  enemies.    You 


FINDING  A  SON  169 

are  to  have  the  gift  of  going  through  hard  times  on 
behalf  of  Christ,  fighting  battles  like  those  through 
which  I  have  gone." 

"  Do  all  your  work,"  he  went  on,  "  without  mut- 
tering and  disputing  with  one  another;  so  that  you 
may  not  be  open  to  blame  and  may  do  harm  to  no 
one.  Live  like  sons  of  God  among  a  crooked-minded 
and  contrary  Nation,  shining  in  the  midst  of  them  like 
lights  in  the  world,  holding  out  as  a  torch  the  Word  of 
Life." 

In  many  of  these  places  the  same  hard  question 
came  up — the  Jews  declaring  that  everybody  must 
come  under  the  Law  and  the  others  saying  "  No." 
It  was  a  great  help  to  them  when  Silas  brought 
out  his  parchment  and  read  aloud  the  letter  that 
said  they  were  not  to  have  this  burden  laid  upon 
them. 

At  last  they  came  out  on  the  bank  of  the  River 
Cydnus  and  reached  the  great  city  of  Tarsus.  Paul's 
father  and  mother  must  have  been  very  old  by  this 
time;  if,  indeed,  they  had  not  died.  Some  of  his  old 
schoolmates  would  not  speak  to  him — they  had  grown 
to  be  strict  Pharisees  who  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  Paul  since  he  had  become  a  Christian.  But 
others,  who  had  been  led  by  him  into  the  blithe  joy 
of  being  worshippers  of  God  through  Christ,  would 
have  plucked  their  very  eyes  out  to  give  to  him,  if  he 
had  needed  them. 

But  he  and  Silas  could  not  rest  long  even  here. 
In  front  of  them  rose  the  high  ridge  of  the  Taurus. 


170  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

And  on  the  other  side  of  the  snows  of  the  mountains 
was  the  great  plateau  of  the  Roman  cities. 

The  asses  were  brought  out  and  a  supply  of  food 
placed  in  the  saddle-bags.  For  they  must  prepare  for 
days  of  trudging  up  lonely  defiles  where  no  villages 
stood,  nor  any  place  of  rest,  save  the  solitary  roadside 
inn  by  the  rushing  stream,  with  its  dark  low  stable 
and  rough  bare  room. 

They  rode  out  of  the  city  by  the  northern  gate. 
The  hoofs  of  the  asses  clattered  on  the  paved  Roman 
road  that  ran  straight  ahead  of  them.  They  could 
see  its  distant  lengths  shining  in  the  sunlight  up  past 
the  Hill  of  the  Seven  Sleepers.  They  went  through 
the  suburb  among  the  hills,  where  Paul  and  his  father 
and  mother  and  sister  used  to  come  in  the  summer 
months  when  all  the  plain  lay  baked  under  the  fierce, 
sultry  heat  of  the  sun. 

At  length  the  last  house  of  the  distant  Tarsus  sub- 
urb lay  behind  Paul  and  Silas.  Before  them  the  road 
curved  like  a  serpent  among  the  hills  by  the  side  of 
the  stream.  It  was  still  the  great  paved  Roman  road, 
for  this  was  the  Way  along  which  the  legions  marched 
and  the  Imperial  Post  galloped. 

Among  the  hills  by  the  roadside  the  spring  anemones 
bloomed,  but  as  they  climbed  higher,  along  the  side 
of  the  rushing  torrent  of  icy  snow-water,  no  flowers 
bloomed.  Further  on  they  stopped  to  take  their  olives 
and  cheese  and  bread,  where  the  grey  old  sycamores 
clung  with  their  gnarled  roots  to  the  rocks  that  were 
greyer  and  older  than  the  trees ;  while  up  above  on  the 
steep  craggy  peaks,  the  dark  green  pine  trees  moaned 
in  the  wind, 


FINDING  A  SON  171 

The  sound  of  the  tinkle  and  boom  of  bells  came  on 
them.  Round  the  curve  of  the  rocky  road  a  camel 
came/  On  his  neck  were  little  copper  bells  that  gave 
a  tinkling  sound,  and  from  his  side  hung  larger  ones 
that  sounded  deeper  tones  as  the  camel  strode  silently 
down  the  pass.  Behind  him  another  camel  came,  and 
another  and  another — eight  all  linked  together  by  light 
chains,  and  the  first  and  the  last  wore  bells;  so  that  the 
camelman  who  rode  in  front  on  a  little  donkey  knew 
— if  the  bells  in  the  distance  ceased  to  sound — that  the 
chain  had  broken  and  some  of  his  camels  were  left 
behind. 

The  sun  went  behind  the  rocks.  As  the  late  after- 
noon wore  on  Paul  and  Silas  came  to  a  square  low 
building;  just  four  windowless  stone  walls  without; 
and  within  a  quadrangle  in  which  they  could  stable 
the  asses  and  find  a  corner  by  the  wood-fire  where  they 
could  wrap  themselves  in  their  cloaks  and  sleep. 

Outside  the  inn  they  saw  the  camels  in  groups,  all 
in  circles  with  tails  outward  and  heads  down  in  the 
centre,  eating  the  corn  that  their  driver  had  thrown 
down.  A  new  string  of  camels  came  in,  and  slowly 
squatting  down,  grunted  discontentedly  while  their 
driver  unlashed  the  burdens  from  their  backs. 

As  night  fell,  Paul  and  Silas,  having  gathered  to- 
gether twigs  and  pieces  of  wood,  lighted  a  fire  under 
their  crock  and  boiled  a  dish  of  wheat  and  oil  and 
spices.    Other  fires  crackled  all  round  the  encampment. 

^  Going  through  this  pass  in  February,  1914,  I  met  in  one  day 
over  400  camels  coming  down  on  to  the  Taurus  plain  carrying 
goods.  The  photograph  facing  this  page  was  taken  during  that 
day. 


172  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

The  flames  threw  wild  leaping  shadows  of  the  sleeping 
camels  against  the  wall  of  the  inn.  Then  a  camel- 
driver  started  to  sing  a  long  ballad-story  in  many- 
short  verses;  many  of  the  verses  were  so  foul  and 
unclean  that  Paul  and  Silas  were  glad  to  wrap  their 
cloaks  around  their  ears  and  lie  down  to  sleep. 

Before  the  morning  sun  had  even  caught  the  snow- 
crest  of  the  Taurus  in  its  loop  of  flame,  Paul  and 
Silas  were  up  and,  having  washed  in  the  running 
water  of  the  stream,  were  away  on  the  road  again. 
[As  they  climbed  higher  up  the  profound  gorge,  which 
was  filled  from  depth  to  height  with  the  sound  of  run- 
ning waters  and  the  tinkle  of  camel  bells,  the  dizzy, 
grey  crags  soared  higher  and  higher  on  either  side. 
Then  they  came  to  a  place  where  it  seemed  as  though 
they  must  turn  back ;  for,  right  across  the  road,  tower- 
ing six  hundred  feet  above  them,  lay  the  crowning  ridge 
of  the  mountain  range.  They  could  neither  climb  nor 
go  round.  Yet  the  road  lay  straight  on,  as  though 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  Taurus  rocks. 

Paul  and  Silas  trudged  on;  and  the  narrowest  pass 
in  the  world  opened  before  them.  There  ran  the  road, 
so  strait  that  a  laden  camel  brushed  the  grey  rocks 
with  his  burden,  and  by  the  road  the  swift  mountain 
torrent  ran.  From  the  road  and  the  river  the  two 
precipices  soared  up  and  up,  as  though  defying  the 
very  skies — ^hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  feet  of  grey, 
defiant,  glorious  rock  echoing  with  the  music  of  the 
stream. 

They  went  on  into  the  shadow  of  this  deep  ravine 
— ^the  Cilician  Gates.  We  do  not  know  whether  they 
remembered  that  Alexander  the  Great  with  all  his 


FINDING  A  SON  173 

armies  had  poured  through  that  narrow  defile.  Cer- 
tainly Paul  would  have  laughed  if  Silas  had  said  to 
him,  what  was  perfectly  true;  that  in  that  ravine  at 
that  moment,  in  the  cloak  of  a  travelling  Jew,  with 
hands  stained  and  rough  with  the  toil  of  tent-making, 
with  limbs  toughened  and  with  muscle  taut  with  the 
travail  of  much  journeying,  stood  a  man  greater  than 
Alexander  himself.  For  Paul  was  mightier  in  his 
real  power,  swifter  and  more  daring  in  brain  than 
even  Alexander,  as  brave  and  reckless  of  danger  in 
action,  and  destined  to  have  an  effect  on  the  future 
history  of  the  world  far  wider  and  deeper.  For  Paul 
took  up  the  standard  of  an  empire  that  was  to  cover 
more  races  than  even  Alexander  ever  saw,  and  he 
dared  to  fight  his  life's  campaign  not  at  the  head  of  an 
army,  but,  almost  alone,  in  the  power  of  an  invisible 
and  risen  King. 

"  Yes,  without  cheer  of  mother  or  of  daughter, 
Yes,  without  stay  of  father  or  of  son, 
Lone  on  the  land  and  homeless  on  the  water, 
Pass  I  in  patience  till  the  work  is  done. 

Yet  not  in  solitude  if  Christ  anear  me 
Waken  him  workers  for  the  great  employ, 
Nay,  not  in  solitude  if  those  that  hear  me 
Catch  from  my  joyaunce  the  surprise  of  joy."* 

So  Paul  and  Silas  passed  through  the  straight  and 
narrow  Gate  out  into  the  sunshine  of  the  high  plateau. 
They  rode  among  the  hills  in  a  broad  valley  with  no 
ravine,  and  then  dropped  to  the  plain  which  ran  for 
hundreds  of  miles  at  a  level  of  some  three  or  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  They  were 

'  F.  W.  H.  Myers,  St.  Paul. 


174.  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

now  in  the  kingdom  of  Antiochus — who  held  rule  in 
allegiance  to  Rome.  They  did  not  stop  at  any  cities 
in  this  kingdom,  but  pressed  on  with  all  speed  to  the 
frontier-city  of  the  Lycaonian  part  of  the  Province 
of  Galatia — Derbe. 

Paul  came  into  Derbe — as  you  will  see  from  the 
map — at  the  east  gate  in  place  of  the  west  which  he 
had  entered  (coming  from  Lystra)  on  his  earlier 
journey  with  Barnabas.  To  the  Christians  there  he 
and  Silas  read  and  explained  the  letter  from  Jerusalem 
and  spoke  to  the  people  encouraging  them. 

From  Derbe  they  hastened  on  westward  along  the 
Roman  road.  It  may  well  be  that  Paul  would  tell 
Silas  how  he  had  come  from  Lystra  along  that  road 
all  bruised  with  the  cruel  stones  of  the  mob,  who  had 
been  egged  on  by  the  angry  Jews.  At  length  they  came 
in  sight  of  Lystra  with  the  sun  setting  behind  the 
great  Temple  of  Jupiter,  whose  priests  (we  remember) 
had  started  to  sacrifice  to  Paul  and  Barnabas  as  Mer- 
cury and  Jupiter. 

"  Here  is  Timothy,"  said  Paul  to  Silas,  as  a  young 
fellow  hurried  to  greet  them,  his  eyes  all  shining  with 
joy  at  seeing  his  great  hero  Paul  back  again  in  Lystra. 

Silas  would  see  from  Timothy's  hair  and  from  the 
colour  of  his  eyes  and  his  skin  that  he  was  not  a  pure- 
blooded  Jew.  When  they  went  to  Timothy's  he  found 
that  Timothy's  father  was  a  Greek,  and  his  mother, 
named  Eunice,  was  a  Jewess.  In  the  house  with  them 
lived  his  grandmother,  named  Lois. 

If  Timothy  was  excited  when  he  saw  Paul  come 
back    into   Lystra,    he    would    hardly   hold    himself 


FINDING  A  SON  175 

for  joy  and  surprise  when  Paul  put  to  him  the  ques- 
tion: 

"  Will  you  come  with  me  on  my  journey  carrying 
the  Good  News  of  the  Love  of  God  as  shown  in  Jesus 
Christ?" 

We  can  imagine  how  Timothy  would  cry: 

"  Oh,  yes,  of  all  the  things  in  the  world  that  I  most 
desire  ..."  when  Paul  would  quietly  interrupt  him 
and  tell  him  how  John  Mark  had  turned  back  in  fear. 

"  This  is  no  easy  thing,"  he  would  tell  Timothy. 
"  We  must  be  ready  to  face  weariness  and  pain,  hunger 
and  thirst  and  cold,  storm  and  brigands,  stoning  and 
beatings,  imprisonment  and  the  fear  of  death." 

But  as  he  looked  into  the  face  of  Timothy  and  saw 
all  his  brave  spirit  looking  at  him  with  love  and  wor- 
ship, eager  to  dare  any  danger  if  he  might  only  be  with 
his  master  Paul,  he  could  not  hesitate,  but  gave  the 
word  that  Timothy  was  to  travel  with  them  on  the 
new  adventure  into  lands  that  none  of  them  had 
ever  seen. 


XVIII 
WESTWARD  HO! 

4  S  he  saw  Eunice  putting  the  last  stitches  to  her 
r\  Timothy's  cloak  and  filling  his  wallet  with 
bread  and  dates,  cheese  and  salted  olives,  Paul 
could  not  but  remember  how  his  own  mother  had, 
years  ago,  made  ready  for  him  to  go  down  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  college.  Only  he  would  understand  much  better 
now  than  he  did  as  a  boy  the  wrench  that  it  is  for  a 
mother  to  let  her  son  leave  home  to  go  far  away. 

The  trembling  hands  of  Grandmother  Lois  told  their 
story,  too,  as  she  filled  Timothy's  water-bottle  and 
slipped  an  extra  cake  quietly  into  his  wallet,  while 
Timothy  strapped  on  his  sandals  and  took  up  his  iron- 
shod  staff.  There  were  no  luxuries,  for  they  were  on 
a  campaign  and  must  "  travel  light." 

At  last  all  the  preparations  were  made.  Then,  with 
his  own  cloak,  and  perhaps  Paul's,  over  his  shoulder, 
and  with  his  wallet  and  bottle  at  his  girdle,  Timothy 
said  "  Goodbye "  to  his  mother  and  grandmother, 
and  stepped  out  into  the  great  world.  Going  under 
the  arch  of  the  west  gate  of  Lystra,  the  three  travellers 
took  a  road  which  Timothy  knew  well — the  road  to  the 
neighbouring  city — Iconium. 

Paul  and  his  companions  wonderfully  represented 
the  world  of  the  northern  and  eastern  lands  of  the 
Mediterranean.    He  and  Silas  were  Jews  and  yet  were 

176 


WESTWARD  HOI  177 

both  Roman  citizens.  Timothy  was  the  son  of  a 
Greek  father,  though  his  mother  was  a  Jewess.  Greek, 
Roman,  and  Jew,  they  were  a  band  in  which  the  three 
threads  of  the  empire  were  woven  together  by  great 
love  for  one  another  and  in  utter  devotion  to  their 
one  King. 

CHmbing  over  the  ridge  across  which  we  have  al- 
ready travelled  twice  with  Paul,  they  walked  on  all 
day.  Before  sunset,  they  were  among  the  orchards 
of  Iconium.  In  that  city,  again,  as  in  Derbe  and 
Lystra,  they  brought  out  the  letter  from  Jerusalem. 
The  Brethren  there  brought  out  parchment  and  a  reed 
pen  and  carefully  copied  the  letter,  so  that,  if  any 
strict  Jews  came  and  declared  that  the  Greek  Christians 
must  obey  all  the  Law  of  Moses,  they  could  bring  out 
the  parchment  to  prove  that  it  was  not  so. 

From  Iconium  the  three  comrades  struck  across  the 
shoulder  of  the  Twin  Peaks  to  the  great  Roman  road. 
They  trudged  along  the  paved  Way  for,  perhaps,  two 
days,  till  they  sighted  the  aqueduct  coming  over  the 
valley  from  the  hills  to  Antioch-in-Pisidia.  Here, 
again,  they  cheered  the  Christian  folk,  and  left  with 
them  a  copy  of  the  letter  that  was  their  Charter  of 
Freedom. 

Paul  might  now  have  turned,  as  he  had  done  with" 
Barnabas,  to  climb  over  the  ridge  of  the  mountains, 
drop  down  to  Perga,  and  sail  home  to  Antioch.  But 
he  had  in  his  mind  a  daring  scheme  for  a  far  wider 
campaign. 

There,  ahead  of  them,  lay  the  road,  calhng  them 
west  to  the  great  Greek  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire. 


178  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

On  the  road  the  camels  trudged,  bearing  their  burdens 
toward  Ephesus  and  the  sea.  With  the  crack  of  a 
whip  and  the  clatter  of  hoofs  the  Imperial  Post  rode 
to  the  west,  taking  the  news  of  the  empire  back  to 
Rome. 

These  words  that  Paul  had  heard  as  he  knelt  in 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  still  rang  in  his  ears. 

"  I  have  called  you  to  carry  the  Good  News  to  the 
Nations." 

To  carry  his  Good  News  to  these  great  cities  of  the 
west,  where  men  came  and  went  from  all  parts  of  the 
empire,  would,  he  knew,  make  it  certain  that  the  story 
would  be  carried  all  over  the  Mediterranean  by  those 
who  went  out — in  ships  or  by  road,  or  talked  in  the 
market  and  in  the  country-side  village,  in  the  city 
forum  and  cloisters  of  the  gymnasium. 

So  Paul  led  his  companions  out  to  the  west  along 
the  highroad  of  the  Nations,  that  ran  like  a  bridge 
from  the  east  to  the  west. 

The  morning  sun  threw  three  purple  shadows  ahead 
of  the  travellers  on  the  grey  pavement  of  the  road 
as  they  started  out  from  Antioch-in-Pisidia  on  this 
new  venture.  Timothy  strode  lightly  along,  glad  to 
feel  the  open  road  under  his  feet,  and  Paul,  the  great 
companion,  by  his  side. 

Paul  was  very  silent  as  he  walked,  thinking  over 
the  future,  hearing  the  Voice  calling,  calling  him  west- 
ward as  surely  as  did  the  storks  who  were  flying  over- 
head. As  they  passed  by  towns  on  the  road,  Silas 
might  ask: 

*'  Shall  we  not  stop  to  preach  here?  " 

*'  No,"  Paul  said,  "  the  Spirit  tells  me  that  we  must 


WESTWARD  HO!  1T9 

go  on  and  not  stay  to  preach  in  all  this  Province  of 
Asia." 

Turning  northward  they  walked  for  days,  sometimes 
just  by  themselves,  often  in  the  company  of  a  travel- 
ling band  of  traders.  They  were  still  on  the  high 
plateau,  which  in  places  became  wild  and  rocky,  and  in 
others  carried  them  for  many  hours  over  the  flat  plain. 

Day  after  day  they  pressed  on,  starting  before  the 
dawn.  Toward  midday  they  stopped  to  eat  their  food 
under  the  sheltering  shadow  of  a  rock  near  the  stone 
mouth  of  a  solitary  well.  They  rested  here  while  all 
the  country  shimmered  in  the  blaze  of  noon.  As  the 
sun  dropped  lower  in  the  sky  they  moved  on  again.  At 
night  they  slept  the  sound  sleep  of  tired  men  in  the 
shelter  of  a  rough  roadside  inn,  undisturbed  by  the 
wild  cry  of  jackals  among  the  hills,  or  the  hungry 
howl  of  the  wolves. 

They  would  have  gone  on  still  further  north  into  the 
Province  of  Bithynia,  but  guidance  came  again  through 
the  inner  Voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  gave  strong, 
sure  leading  to  Paul.  So  they  turned  westward  again, 
leaving  the  inviting  streams  that  ran  down  their  glens 
toward  the  Euxine,^  and  taking  the  road  through  the 
Mysia  district  of  Asia. 

They  crossed  river  after  river  flowing  northward, 
but  never  allowed  the  streams  to  lead  them  from  keep- 
ing their  faces  toward  the  setting  sun.  Over  bridge 
and  through  city  and  town,  unhasting  but  unresting, 
talking  of  the  work  in  front  and  the  friends  behind 
them  at  home,  the  three  great  companions  strode  along 
the  Roman  Way. 

'  The  Black  Sea. 


180  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

Six  hundred  miles  now  separated  Paul  and  Silas 
from  the  Brethren  in  Antioch  in  Syria,  and  Timothy 
had  trudged  from  two  to  three  hundred  miles.  There 
was  no  spare  flesh  on  these  three  companions,  trained 
as  they  were  to  the  last  ounce  on  simple  food,  tramp- 
ing the  great  road  in  sun  and  wind  and  rain.  Timothy 
with  the  Greek  fondness  for  a  body  in  perfect  athletic 
trim  would  feel  the  taut,  wiry  muscles  working  under 
his  skin  with  ill-concealed  pride. 

"  Bodily  exercise  has  some  value  in  it,"  ^  said  Paul 
to  Timothy,  "  but  the  active  life  of  the  spirit  is  good  in 
every  way." 

They  were  now  dropping  down  from  the  highlands 
of  the  plateau  by  a  long,  broad  valley.  To  their  right 
the  hills  ran  down  to  a  lovely  plain,  but  on  their  left 
the  lovely  mass  of  Mount  Ida  lifted  above  the  valleys 
and  looked  out  over  the  bluest  sea  in  the  world  be- 
yond the  plains  of  Troy. 

Paul  might  remember  ^  the  story  that  all  true  Greeks 
loved  to  hear  in  the  immortal  epic  of  Homer,  of  how 
the  great  armies  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Trojans  on  that 
very  plain  had  been  locked  in  frightful  battle,  led  by 
the  heroes;  and  how  siege  was  laid  for  year  after  year, 
around  the  towers  of  Ilium  for  the  sake  of  Helen. 
Paul  would  be  just  as  likely  to  know,  also,  that  on  that 
plain  young  Alexander  of  Macedon,  who  later  earned 

'  I  Tim.  iv,  8. 

*  A  Jewish  boy,  the  son  of  a  Pharisee,  would  not  usually  know 
about  Homer.  But  Paul  at  Athens  quoted  a  Greek  poet,  show- 
ing that  he  knew  some  Greek  poetry,  and  it  may  well  be  that 
in  Tarsus  he  would  meet  some  university  student  and  hear  the 
story  of  Homer  or  even  borrow  a  roll  of  parchment  on  which 
the  epic  was  written. 


WESTWARD  HO!  181 

his  title  "  the  Great,"  had  landed  with  his  mighty 
armies  and  had  there  put  on  the  armour  of  Achilles 
as  though  to  clothe  himself  with  the  spirit  of  the 
ancient  warrior-hero. 

Yet  on  the  day  when  Paul  walked  down  on  to  those 
plains,  Troy  saw  a  greater  leader  than  Achilles  (one 
who  never  sulked  in  his  tent!) — and,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  a  nobler  leader  than  Alexander. 

Timothy  was  filled  with  wonder  as  he  looked  down 
on  the  plain,  for  he  had  never  seen  such  a  city  as  this 
great  Roman  seaport  of  Troy.  Sturdy  walls  crowned 
with  many  towers  ran  for  three  miles  round  the  city. 
The  marble  stadium  glittered  in  the  light.  A  lovely 
open-air  theatre  stood  there  under  the  blue  sky,  facing 
westward,  so  that  the  eyes  of  the  audience  would 
hardly  know  whether  to  look  down  on  the  play  or  out 
over  the  harbour  to  the  gleaming  blue  of  the  sea 
beyond,  where  the  islands  lay  basking  in  the  sun. 
An  aqueduct  ran  over  the  plain  carrying  water  with 
healing  powers  down  from  the  hot  springs  on  the 
slopes  of  Mount  Ida. 

In  Troy  there  was  a  physician  who,  it  seems,  had 
come  from  a  great  city  called  Philippi  on  the  hills  two 
days  distant  across  the  sea  from  the  north-west.  His 
name  was  Luke. 

One  day,  we  do  not  know  how,  he  and  the  three 
travellers  met  with  one  another.  We  cannot  even  tell 
whether  he  worshipped  in  the  Name  of  Christ  or  in 
the  name  of  ^sculapius,  the  Greek  god  of  healing, 
when  he  met  Paul  first.  In  any  case,  Luke,  the  phy- 
sician, quickly  became  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Great  Physician.    Among  all  the  friends  of  Paul  whose 


182  THE  FORWARD  TREAD 

names  we  know  (and  there  are  scores  of  them),  we 
owe  more  to  Luke  than  to  all  the  others  combined. 
For  he  it  was  who  wrote  that  book — one  of  the 
greatest  books  in  the  world — in  which  we  read  the 
Acts  of  Paul  and  the  other  Apostles. 

Luke  was  very  proud  of  Philippi  and  told  his  new 
friends  how  the  city,  which  was  named  after  the  great 
Philip  of  Macedonia,  stood  on  one  of  the  greatest 
roads  in  the  Roman  Empire,  the  Via  Egnatia.  This 
Way  ran  westward  across  the  Province  of  Macedonia 
for  hundreds  of  miles  straight  to  Dyrrachium  on  the 
coast  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  whence  men  sailed  over  to 
Brundisium  and  rode  up  the  Via  Appia  to  Rome. 

That  night,  as  Paul  slept,  a  Vision  came  to  him. 
He  saw — surely  it  must  have  been  a  vision  of  Luke 
■ — a  man  from  Macedonia — holding  out  his  hands  and 
pleading  with  Paul,  saying: 

*'  Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us. 

In  the  morning  Paul  told  his  companions  about 
the  dream  he  had  had.  They  all  agreed  that  God 
had  called  them  to  go  and  preach  the  Message  of 
the  Kingdom  to  the  people  in  Philippi  and  the  other 
cities  of  Macedonia. 

Going  down  into  the  harbour  at  Troy  they  took  pas- 
sage in  a  coasting  sailing  ship.  She  hove  anchor,  and 
after  rowing  out  between  the  ends  of  the  granite  piers 
of  Troy  harbour,  they  spread  sail  and  the  ship  went 
dipping  and  bobbing  out  into  the  open  ^gean  Sea. 


BOOK  III 
STORM  AND  STRESS 


XIX 
THE  SHOUT  OF  THE  SLAVE  GIRL 

KEEPING  the  island  of  Imbros  on  the  port  bow 
and  passing  the  narrow  channel  of  the  Helles- 
pont on  their  starboard  beam  they  set  the 
ship's  course  straight  for  Samothrace  Island.  They 
sailed  on,  and,  when  the  sun  was  setting,  they  saw  the 
tumbling  waters  "  as  it  were  a  glassy  sea  mingled  with 
fire."  They  then  dropped  anchor  in  the  shelter  of 
the  island.  For  on  their  coasting  journeys  the  smaller 
boats  always  anchored  by  night  and  sailed  only  by  day. 

The  sun  barely  tinged  the  distant  east  with  pink 
before  the  anchor  was  hauled  aboard  and  the  sail 
bellied  and  strained  to  the  morning  breeze.  The  ship 
sailed  on  northward,  and  after  running  for  hours 
before  a  favouring  wind,  the  sharpest-eyed  of  the 
sailors  could  see,  on  the  high  ground  that  rose  behind  a 
city  and  its  port,  the  columns  of  a  temple  which 
caught  the  rays  of  the  sun.  They  ran  into  a  spacious 
bay  and  the  boat  was  made  fast  at  one  of  the  wharves 
of  Neapolis,  the  port  of  Philippi. 

They  had  crossed  the  narrow  water  that  for  us 

divides  Asia  from  Europe.     But,  when  Paul  sailed 

there,  all  the  world  of  the  ^gean  Sea  was  one;  and, 

at  Troy  as  well  as  at  Philippi,  at  Ephesus  in  Asia  as 

well  as  at  Athens  in  Achaia,  it  was  above  everything 

else  Greek. 

185 


186  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Out  of  Neapolis  Paul  and  his  companions  climbed 
by  a  glen  upward  to  the  crest  of  the  hill,  where  they 
could  take  breath  and  look  back  over  the  sea  to  the 
great  plains  and  hills  that  they  had  left.  Then  they 
marched  on  again  till,  after  three  or  four  hours  of  hard 
travel,  they  clattered  in  through  the  gate  of  Philippi. 
They  rested  through  the  remaining  days  of  the  week. 

On  the  Sabbath  they  walked  down  from  the  city, 
out  through  the  gate,  and  down  to  the  river  bank. 
The  stream  ran  through  a  wide  glen  to  the  sea.  There 
were  not  many  Jews  in  Philippi ;  so  they — it  seems — 
had  no  synagogue,^  but  met  in  the  open  by  the  river- 
side at  a  place  of  prayer. 

Paul  and  Silas,  Luke  and  Timothy,  went  down  there 
together.  They  found  a  number  of  women  met,  and 
talked  to  them.  Among  them  was  a  woman  named 
Lydia,  who  came  from  Thyatira  across  the  sea  in 
Asia,  three  or  four  days'  journey  beyond  Troas.  She 
sold  lovely  robes  from  Thyatira,  a  city  which  was 
almost  as  famous  as  Tyre  for  its  wonderful  purple 
dye.  Great  sums  of  money  were  paid  for  a  cloak 
or  a  toga,  all  woven  in  one  piece  without  seam,  and 
dyed  in  the  purple  vats  at  Thyatira. 

Lydia  sat  by  the  river  listening  very  closely  to  all 
that  Paul  told  them  about  Jesus  Christ  having  come 
to  show  the  love  of  God  and  to  lead  the  Greeks  and 
Jews  and  all  people  to  reverence  God  and  each  other. 

In  her  native  place  of  Thyatira '  she  had  seen  her 
people  worshipping  idols ;  and  she  had  been  sure  that 
God  was  greater  than  the  idols.     She  had  seen  there, 

*  This  is  not  certain. 

*  See  Rev.  ii. 


Tllli  TESTIAIUNV   OF  A  FEMALE  SLAVE 

"  The  slave  girl    .    .    .   cried  out,  '  These  men  are  slaves  of  the 
Most  High    God.      They   tell   you   the    way    of    salvation.' " 


THE  SHOUT  OF  THE  SLAVE  GIRL      187 

also,  a  curious  worship  which  was  partly  the  Jewish 
worship  of  Jehovah,  but  was  mixed  with  uncleanness; 
and  this  too  she  felt  quite  sure  was  not  really  worship 
of  the  true  God.  The  Jewish  worship  in  Philippi, 
where  she  now  lived,  seemed  true;  yet  God  was  still 
distant,  though  great  and  pure. 

As  Lydia  listened  it  came  over  her  that  what  Paul 
said  was  the  very  truth;  not  only  because  he  said  it, 
but  because  at  the  same  time  she  felt  in  her  own  inner 
self  as  though  Jesus  Christ  had  really  come  to  her, 
bringing  God  very  close  to  her,  and  was  making  her 
feel  just  that  love  which  Paul  said  He  would  bring. 

So  Lydia  and  her  children  and  servants  became 
Christian.  She  pressed  Paul  and  the  others  to  stay 
in  her  house  while  they  were  at  Philippi.  She  begged 
them,  saying: 

"  H  you  are  sure  that  I  am  a  believer  in  the  Lord, 
come  and  stay  at  my  house." 

"  She  compelled  us  to  come,"  writes  Luke. 

One  day,  as  they  went  down  to  the  riverside,  they 
met  a  slave-girl,  dressed  in  a  flowing  coloured  tunic, 
with  one  end  of  the  cloth  that  made  the  tunic  thrown 
over  her  dark  hair.  She  looked  at  them  with  a  curious, 
wistful,  intent  gaze.  Although  she  was  a  slave-girl, 
many  people  in  Philippi,  both  Greeks  and  Romans, 
knew  her;  for  they  came  to  her  to  have  their  fortunes 
told.  When  she  told  fortunes  the  people  paid  her 
owners  for  it,  which  brought  them  a  great  deal  of 
money. 

The  sensitive  girl,  whose  daily  work  was  to  look 
at  people  and  try  to  see  at  a  glance  what  they  were 
like  so  that  she  might  tell  fortunes,  felt  at  once  that 


188 


STORM  AND  STRESS 


Paul's  was  the  face  of  a  man  of  great  power  and 
goodness. 

She  stopped  and  lifting  up  her  hands,  she  cried  out 
so  that  all  the  people  passing  by  could  hear : 

*'  These  men  are  slaves  of  the  Most  High  God. 
They  tell  you  the  way  to  salvation." 

People  stopped  to  stare,  first  at  the  girl,  then  at 


/+|T"PO(;>iAOC/ 

KAHlACCYNrYM/ 

ICtAH^lATHPlEAYTsI 


^^ToNl£^|o^K-T^ 

KAPTTONJCTI-C' 


Vow  TO  Zeus  the  Thunderer,  for  Salvation.* 

Paul  and  his  companions.  Paul  and  Silas  and  the 
others  walked  on;  but  she  cried  out  the  same  words 
again,  following  them  all  down  the  road,  declaring 

*  "  Metrophilos  son  of  Asklepas  with  his  wife  Ammia  for  their 
own  and  their  family's  and  the  crops'  and  the  village's  salvation 
to  Zeus  the  Thunderer  a  vow."  (From  Ramsay's  The  Bearing  of 
Recent  Discovery  on  the  Trustworthiness  of  the  New  Testament, 
p.  i86.) 


THE  SHOUT  OF  THE  SLAVE  GIRL     189 

that  they  were — not,  like  herself  a  slave  telling  for- 
tunes for  a  master — but  bond-slaves  of  God  telling 
the  way  of  salvation. 

What  did  she  mean?  What  did  the  startled  people 
walking  along  the  road  understand  when  she  called 
out,  pointing  to  Paul  and  Silas : 

"  They  tell  you  the  way  of  salvation." 

The  word  that  she  used  and  that  we  translate  "  sal- 
vation "  was  "soteria";*  and  even  where  she  stood 
shrieking  at  the  side  of  the  road  there  may  well  have 
been  stones  like  that  of  which  a  drawing  stands  on  the 
previous  page.  A  boy  who  knows  Greek  can  read 
that  one  word  on  that  stone  is  "  soteria "  in  Greek 
capital  letters.  These  stones  were  set  up  by  men  in  the 
cities  and  villages  of  the  world  of  the  Great  Sea  and 
along  the  roadside  in  Paul's  day.  Each  stone  was  a 
prayer  to  the  gods  for  that  strange  something  which 
they  called  "  salvation." 

So  when  the  slave-girl  stood  there,  crying  out  about 
Paul  and  Silas, 

**  They  tell  you  the  way  of  salvation," 

she  used  a  word  that  all  the  people  as  they  went  by 
would  understand.  More  than  that,  the  fact  that  men 
everywhere  set  up  these  stones  asking  for  "  soteria  " 
showed  that  it  stood  for  something  that  they  greatly 
desired. 

The  slave-girl  could  not  leave  them — would  not 
leave  them.  She  followed  Paul  and  his  friends  down 
to  the  river  bank  and  back  again;  she  walked  behind 
them  through  the  streets  till  they  went  into  Lydia's 


190  STORM  AND  STRESS 

house.     And  all  the  next  day  she  vexed  them  again, 
calling  out  in  the  street : 

"  These  men  tell  you  the  way  of  salvation." 

What  did  the  word  mean  to  the  young  sandalled 
Greek  student,  in  his  white  tunic  with  his  wax  tablet 
slung  on  a  tape  over  his  arm  and  his  writing  stylus 
in  his  hand,  going  down  to  his  class,  or  coming  home 
from  the  gymnasium  all  glowing  with  exercise?  To 
him  "  soteria  "  (salvation)  meant  that  he  should  be 
lifted-  up  with  the  fullness  of  the  stature  of  an  all- 
round  man.  If  he  cared  simply  for  wrestling  and 
throwing  the  javelin,  then  salvation  meant  being  freed 
from  every  disease  of  body,  every  weakness  of  muscle 
and  nerve,  and  being  made  a  perfect  athlete  and 
warrior. 

This  young  student,  coming  up  the  High  Street 
of  Philippi,  knew,  however  (he  would  have  learned 
from  his  tutor  how  the  great  Greek  teachers  like 
Socrates  said),  that  he  was  not  only  made  up  of  body 
and  of  mind,  but  that  his  inmost  being  was  spirit. 
There  in  Philippi,  as  in  all  the  Greek  cities  in  Paul's 
day,  men  were  initiated  into  the  "  mysteries  "  of  wor- 
ship of  gods.  As  a  man  was  led  into  the  innermost 
mystery  by  strange  ceremonial  the  very  life  of  the 
god  (they  believed)  came  into  him;  so  that  the  man 
became  immortal  as  the  god  was  immortal.  This 
deliverance  from  the  fear  of  evil  and  from  the  power 
of  death  through  union  with  the  god  of  the  mystery- 
religion  was,  to  the  Greek  man  of  Paul's  day,  and  to 
many  of  the  people  of  Asia,  "  salvation."  "  Salva- 
tion "  then  meant  that  the  Spirit  Who  makes  the  world 


THE  SHOUT  OF  THE  SLAVE  GIRL     191 

and  creates  all  men — "  the  Most  High  God  " — as  the 
Greek  slave-girl  in  Philippi  called  Him  in  the  common 
language  of  the  day — would  pour  into  this  Greek 
student  or  any  boy  power  and  greatness  and  well- 
being  and  immortal  life. 

It  was  of  such  salvation  as  this  that  Paul  wrote 
when  he  said — in  the  most  wonderful  sentences  in  the 
greatest  letter  that  he  or  any  man  ever  wrote : 

"  I  kneel  before  the  Father,  from  whom  every 
family  in  heaven  and  earth  gets  its  name  and  nature, 
pleading  with  Him,  out  of  the  wealth  of  His  glory, 
to  give  you  a  mighty  increase  of  strength  by  His 
Spirit  in  the  inmost  man. 

"  May  Christ  live  in  your  heart  as  you  have  faith ! 

"  May  you  be  so  fixed,  so  firmly  founded  in  love 
that  you  are  able  to  grasp  with  all  the  saints,  what 
is  the  meaning  of  the  breadth,  the  length,  the  depth, 
the  height,  by  knowing  the  love  of  Christ  which 
goes  beyond  all  knowledge. 

"  May  you  be  filled  with  the  entire  fullness  of 
God." ' 

A  Jewish  boy,  stopped  on  his  way  from  the  syna- 
gogue school  by  the  sound  of  this  piercing  voice  of  the 
slave-girl,  crying, 

**  These  men  are  slaves  of  the  Most  High  God ; 
"  They  tell  you  the  way  of  salvation," 

would  think  first  of  the  promised  coming  of  the  Prince 
who  should  lead  all  the  chosen  people,  the  Jews,  and 
establish  their  kingdom.    To  a  Jewish  boy  in  Philippi 
*The  letter  to  the  Ephesians. 


192  STORM  AND  STRESS 

the  word  "  salvation "  meant  that  he  would  have  a 
place  in  the  new  age  which  the  Messiah  was  to  bring — 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  slave-girl  was,  both  to  the  Greek  and  the  Jew- 
ish way  of  thinking  about  salvation,  far  truer  than 
she  ever  dreamed  when  she  shouted  after  Paul  that 
he  told  men  the  way  of  salvation :  for  he  showed  how 
Jesus  Christ  brought  men  the  "  mighty  increase  of 
strength "  and  the  healing  and  cleansing  from  the 
disease  of  foul  living  that  the  Greek  needed;  to  the 
Jew  the  coming  of  the  new  Kingdom;  and  to  all  the 
immortal  life  that  they  desired. 

At  last  Paul's  patience  was  gone.  He  turned  to  the 
girl  as  she  was  crying  out  to  the  gaping  crowd  of 
people.  He  called  out  sternly  to  the  spirit  in  her  that 
prompted  her : 

"  In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  order  you  out  of 
her." 

Startled,  the  girl  lost  all  belief  in  her  powers.  Some- 
thing had  gone  from  her.  People  came  to  her,  as  they 
had  been  used  to  doing,  saying: 

"  I  have  lost  a  bracelet :  tell  me  where  to  find  it." 
Or, 

"  I  want  to  go  on  a  journey :  will  the  ship  be  wrecked 
or  shall  I  travel  safely  if  I  go  now?  " 

But  she  could  not  answer  their  questions.  Her  old 
confidence  had  altogether  gone.  So  the  people  went 
away,  without  paying  the  slave-girl's  masters.  In  a 
few  days  people  stopped  going  to  her.  So  the  money 
that  used  to  flow  into  the  purses  of  her  owners  from 


THE  SHOUT  OF  THE  SLAVE  GIRL      193 

people  who  listened  to  her  fortune-telling  ceased  to 
come.    The  masters  were  naturally  furious. 

They  went  out  telling  people  what  had  happened, 
and,  searching  through  the  streets,  they  found  Paul 
and  Silas.  Rushing  up  to  them  they  seized  them  by  the 
arms  and  robes  and  dragged  them  along  the  streets : 

"  To  the  praetors !  "  was  the  cry. 

The  praetors  were  the  Roman  officials  in  Philippi; 
very  officious,  very  anxious  to  get  promotion  by  show- 
ing how  they  upheld  the  power  of  Rome.  The  masters 
of  the  slave-girl  came  into  the  forum,  where  the 
praetors  sat,  dragging  Paul  and  Silas  along;  and  at 
their  heels  came  a  shouting  mob. 

The  praetors  sat  in  their  marble  chairs,  on  a  raised 
dais.  On  either  side  stood  the  Roman  lictor,  each 
carrying  the  axe  and  the  bundle  of  rods  that  were  the 
mark  of  the  authority  of  Rome. 

"  See  these  fellows,"  the  men  cried  out.  "  Jews  as 
they  are,  they  are  upsetting  everything  in  the  city. 
They  tell  people  to  take  up  customs  that  are  against 
the  Law  for  us  as  Romans  to  accept." 

"Yes,  yes,"  cried  the  crowd;  *' flog  them,  flog 
them." 

The  praetors,  without  asking  Paul  or  Silas  a  single 
question  as  to  whether  this  was  true,  or  allowing  them 
to  make  any  defence,  were  fussily  eager  to  show  their 
Roman  patriotism.  Standing  up  they  gave  theii; 
orders : 

"  Strip  them,  flog  them." 


XX 

EARTHQUAKE 

QUICKLY  the  lictors  set  about  their  horrible 
work.  Slaves  seized  Paul  and  Silas  and, 
roughly  stripping  off  their  robes,  bared  their 
backs.  They  were  tied  by  their  hands  to  the  whipping- 
post. The  crowd,  all  eager  to  see  these  wandering 
Jews  thrashed,  gathered  round.  The  bundles  of  rods 
were  unstrapped. 

Throwing  back  the  sleeve  of  his  right  arm  for 
freer  movement,  each  of  the  two  lictors  brought  down 
his  rod  with  .cruel  strokes  on  Paul  and  Silas.  Every 
blow  cut  through  the  skin  or  left  a  livid  weal  across 
the  back.  The  sight  of  the  blood  flowing  down  caused 
no  voice  to  be  raised  to  question  the  judgment  or  to 
plead  for  pity. 

Racked  with  the  terrible  pain,  Paul  and  Silas  felt 
their  robes  being  thrown  over  their  tortured  backs. 
They  were  led  out  of  the  blazing  sunlight  of  the 
Philippi  forum  toward  the  abysmal  darkness  of  the 
prison.  A  square  building  of  thick  windowless  walls 
faced  them.  A  rough  strong  wooden  door  was 
opened. 

They  were  thrust  into  the  dark  entrance.  We  can 
imagine  the  Roman  soldiers  laughing  as  they  left  the 
prison,  repeating  to  the  jailer  in  their  jeering  way 
the  words  the  slave-girl  had  shouted  through  the  city, 

194 


PAUL   BEATEiX    WITH    ROMAN    RODS   AT    PHILIPTl 
"The  lictor  brought  down  his  rod  with  cruel  strokes." 


EARTHQUAKE  195 

"  Here  are  the  men  who  '  show  you  the  way  of  sal- 
vation.' Keep  them  safe."  The  jailer  took  them 
and,  because  he  was  specially  charged  to  keep  them 
safe,  led  them  into  a  further  dungeon,  pitch  dark, 
where  the  jingle  of  chains  on  the  ankles  and  wrists 
of  groaning  prisoners  told  the  story  of  the  misery 
of  the  place. 

Paul  and  Silas  felt  the  clasp  of  the  shackles  snapped 
on  to  their  arms;  their  feet  were  clapped  into  stocks. 
Each  shackle  was  attached  to  a  chain  of  which  the 
other  end  was  fastened  to  a  staple  in  the  wall.  The 
stench  of  the  place,  the  groaning  and  oaths  of  the 
other  prisoners,  the  dull  ache  of  their  wounded  bodies, 
made  sleep  impossible  to  Paul  and  Silas. 

Then  there  came  back  into  their  minds  the  songs 
of  their  own  people;  and  they  remembered  that  though 
their  prison  was  dark  as  the  pit,  it  was  still  a  place 
where  they  could  talk  to  their  God.  So,  as  the  slow 
hours  crept  on,  they  prayed  and  sang  joyful  songs  that 
Paul  had  learned  on  the  roof-top  at  Tarsus  when  he 
was  a  boy.  The  other  prisoners  stopped  their  cursing 
to  listen  to  such  songs  as  this : 

"You  that  seek  after  God 
Let  your  heart  live. 
For  the  Lord  heareth  the  needy 
And  does  not  despise  his  prisoners." 
and  again : 

"God  is  our  refuge  and  strength, 
A  very  present  help  in  trouble. 

Therefore  will  we  not  fear,  though  the  earth  do  change 
And  though  the  mountains  be  moved  in  the  heart  of  the  seas ; 
Though  the  waters  thereof  roar  and  be  troubled, 
Though  the  mountains  shake  with  the  swelling  thereof."  * 

*  Ps.  69.        Ps.  46. 


196  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Then  the  stillness  of  the  night  was  broken  by  a 
rumbling.  The  singing  ceased.  The  ground  rocked 
beneath  them;  the  walls  shook.  The  staples  being 
loosened  from  between  the  stones,  the  chains  fell  with 
a  clang.  The  stocks  were  wrenched  open  with  the 
force  of  the  earthquake.  The  pillars  of  the  gateway- 
shook  and  the  hinge-supports  of  the  doors  came  loose. 
The  bar  across  the  two  doors,  loosened  from  its 
sockets,  fell  to  the  ground.  The  heavy  doors  swung 
open  with  a  crash. 

The  jailer  by  this  time  was  wide  awake.  Leaping 
out,  he  saw  the  stars  and  the  moon  shining  into  the 
entrance  of  the  prison. 

"  The  prisoners  have  escaped,"  was  his  first  thought. 
It  spelt  ruin  for  him,  a  Roman  jailer.  Death  in  an 
awful  forrn  would  be  meted  out  to  him  for  having 
let  his  prisoners  go  while  he  slept.  He  snatched  his 
short  sword  from  its  sheath  and  turned  its  point  on 
himself.  Another  moment  and  he  would  have  thrown 
himself  upon  his  sword  and  killed  himself.  But  a 
voice  came  upon  his  ear. 

Paul,  sitting  in  the  black  darkness  of  the  inner 
prison,  could  see  the  figure  of  the  jailer  standing  in  the 
open  gateway,  and  his  eyes  caught  the  glint  of  the 
moonlight  on  his  sword.  So  Paul  shouted  out : 

"  Do  not  harm  yourself.    We  are  all  here." 

The  jailer  turned  to  the  dungeon  from  which  the 
voice  came,  but  he  could  see  nothing. 

"  Torches !    Torches !  "  he  cried. 

As  the  assistants  came  with  the  lights,  he  rushed 
in  and  saw  before  him  Paul  and  Silas.  He  set  his  men 
to  work  fastening  the  other  prisoners.     In  front  of 


EARTHQUAKE  197 

him  were  the  men  after  whom  he  had  heard  the  girl 
shouting : 

"  These  men  show  you  the  way  of  salvation." 

The  beHef  that  the  Greeks  and  Jews  held,  that  an 
earthquake  was  the  act  of  God,  was  strong  on  him. 
The  fear  of  the  unseen  gripped  him.  He  remembered 
the  cry  of  the  slave-girl. 

"  Sirs,"  he  said,  falling  in  terror  before  these  pris- 
oners of  his,  "  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  " 

"  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  said  Paul  and 
Silas,  "  and  then  you  will  be  saved,  you  and  your 
household  as  well." 

The  jailer  brought  his  wife  and  his  children  to  Paul, 
who  spoke  to  them  about  Jesus. 

Then  the  jailer  told  his  wife  to  get  some  water  and 
oil.  She  hurried  to  do  this,  and  he  led  Paul  and  Silas 
up  into  his  house.  The  robes  were  very  gently  taken 
from  their  backs,  and  the  jailer  took  the  basin  his  wife 
handed  to  him,  bathed  the  wounds  and  poured  healing 
and  soothing  oil  on  them. 

The  whole  family  was  then  at  once  baptised,  and 
they  all  felt  overjoyed  because  they  believed  in  God. 
A  meal  was  quickly  laid,  and  Paul  and  Silas  sat  down 
to  restore  their  strength. 

As  the  dawn  came  up,  the  lictors  marched  down 
from  the  praetors  with  an  order. 

"  Release  these  men,"  they  said. 

The  jailer,  delighted  that  his  new  friends  were  not 
to  be  imprisoned  any  more,  went  to  them  and  said : 

"  The  praetors  have  sent  to  release  you.  Come  out 
then,  and  go  in  peace." 

He  was  indeed  startled  when  he  heard  Paul  say : 


198  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  No,  indeed !  They  flogged  us  in  public  in  the 
forum,  and  without  a  trial;  flogged  Roman  citizens. 
They  throw  us  into  prison.  And  now  they  are  going 
to  get  rid  of  us  secretly !  Let  the  praetors  come  here 
themselves  and  take  us  out !  " 

It  was  the  strangest  message  these  lictors  had  ever 
been  told  to  carry  or  the  prsetors  had  ever  received. 
But  Paul  had  taken  measure  of  the  position.  He 
knew  that  if  it  was  reported  to  Rome  that  the  praetors 
had  flogged  Roman  citizens,  the  officials  would  not 
only -be  recalled  and  degraded  from  their  positions — 
they  would  be  ruined. 

The  praetors,  who  had  been  so  fussily  anxious  only 
the  day  before  to  uphold  the  dignity  of  Rome  by 
flogging  Paul  and  Silas,  were  now  panic-stricken  at 
the  peril  they  were  in  of  losing  their  own  positions. 

They  climbed  down  from  their  rostrum  and  went 
down  personally  to  the  prison  to  plead  with  Paul  and 
Silas  to  leave  the  prison.  The  judges  were  now  at 
the  bar;  the  prisoner  had  them  at  his  mercy. 

Publicly  they  took  Paul  and  Silas  by  the  hand  and 
led  them  out,  and  said: 

"  We  ask  you  to  go  away  from  the  city,  as  we  are 
afraid  of  a  further  riot." 

Paul  and  Silas  then  went  to  the  house  where  they 
had  been  staying — the  home  of  Lydia.  There  they 
cheered  the  other  Christians,  with  Luke  and  Timothy, 
telling  them  to  keep  the  work  of  spreading  the  message 
in  Philippi  going  strongly  and  to  be  cheerfully  pre- 
pared for  trouble. 

Lydia,  their  hostess,  would  spare  no  trouble  to  get 
healing  oils  for  the  wounded  backs  of  Paul  and  Silas, 


EARTHQUAKE  199 

Preparations  were  made  for  them  to  leave — not  to 
turn  back  and  cross  the  sea  again  to  Troas,  but  to 
go  on  still  further  westward.  The  city  of  Philippi, 
as  we  know,  was  at  the  eastward  end  of  the  great 
Egnatian  Way,  "  that  military  way  of  ours,"  as 
Cicero  proudly  said,  "  which  connects  us  with  the 
Hellespont."  So  Paul  and  Silas — who  had  come  into 
the  city  probably  in  October  of  the  year  a.d.  50 — 
left  on  a  morning  in  the  early  winter  of  the  same 
year,  riding  westward  along  the  marble  road.  It  is 
likely  that  Paul  had  in  his  tunic  a  letter  from  one  of 
the  Jews  in  Philippi  to  a  friend  named  Jason  in  the 
city  to  which  they  were  travelling. 


XXI 
THE   GOAD   OF   GOD 

4  LL  day  they  rode,  passing  along  a  valley  among 
r\  the  heather  hills,  and  at  last  came  to  where  the 
waters  of  the  Strymon  broadened  into  a  lake 
that  reflected  the  clouds  and  the  autumn  skies.  Near 
the  lake  among  the  hills  they  came  on  a  great  city.  The 
City  of  the  Nine  Ways,  the  proud  citizens  used  to  call 
it  because  of  the  roads  that  radiated  from  it,  though 
its  real  name  was  Amphipolis.  If  they  had  been  look- 
ing over  Luke's  shoulder  when  he  wrote  the  account  of 
Paul's  journeys,  the  Amphipolitan  people  would  have 
told  him  to  scratch  out  what  he  had  written  when  he 
said  that  his  own  Philippi  was  "  the  first  city  of  the 
district."  For  Amphipolis  was  older  and  larger  than 
Philippi. 

Rising  in  the  morning  Paul  and  Silas  set  out  again 
for  a  second  day's  long  travel.  This  stage  of  their 
journey  lay  across  the  broad  neck  of  a  peninsula  of 
many  mountains.  But,  although  the  mountains  were 
high  and  wild  and  the  country  rough,  the  great  road 
pointed  straight  onward,  and  Paul  and  Silas  urged 
on  their  beasts  till  the  gates  of  another  city  faced  them 
as  the  sun  set  behind  the  towers  and  roofs  of 
Apollonia. 

A  third  day's  travel  of  over  thirty  miles  followed, 
and  they  came  to  the  place  where  they  meant  to  stay 

200 


THE  GOAD  OF  GOD  201 

for  some  time.  It  was  called  Thessalonica  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  for  that  was  his  sister's  name.  As 
they  went  under  the  east  gate  they  would  see  the  after- 
noon sun  shining  through  a  noble  triumphal  arch  along 
the  great  marble  way  that  ran  straight  as  an  arrow 
across  the  city.  The  arch  was  there  to  recall  the  great 
triumph  when  the  battle  of  Philippi  was  won  by 
Octavia,  and  of  Mark  Antony  who,  you  remember, 
had  been  in  Tarsus  half  a  century  before  Paul  was 
born. 

Up  the  steep  streets  of  Thessalonica  they  climbed, 
till  they  came  to  the  house  of  Jason,  who  welcomed 
these  two  travelling  fellow-Jews — little  knowing  the 
nest  of  hornets  his  kindness  was  to  bring  about  his 
ears. 

Down  in  the  harbour  many  ships  swung  at  anchor, 
while  the  sailors  got  their  vessels  ready  to  sail  down 
the  gulf  into  the  ^Egean  Sea.  The  porters  ran  across 
the  planks  between  the  ships  and  the  dock,  carrying 
jars  of  corn  and  bales  of  cloth. 

In  this  busy  harbour  city  Paul  found  purchasers 
for  his  handiwork.  He  settled  down  to  work.  "  You 
remember  our  hard  labour  and  toil,  how  we  worked  at 
our  trade  night  and  day,"  ^  he  reminded  the  people  at 
Thessalonica  afterward  in  a  letter.  He  wished  to 
preach  without  being  kept  by  anybody,  so  that  people 
should  not  be  able  to  say  that  he  was  a  travelling  Jew 
talking  new  things  simply  to  make  a  living  for  himself. 

He  went  down  on  the  Sabbath  to  the  synagogue,  and 
there  he  spoke  to  the  Jews,  and  the  Greeks  who  wor- 
shipped with  them. 

*  J  Thess.  ii.  9. 


202  STORM  AND  STRESS 

As  he  stood  up  there  near  the  dimly  burning  lamp, 
his  eager  face  alive  with  desire  that  they  should  catch 
from  him  the  light  that  he  had,  all  could  see  that  every 
word  of  Paul's  burned  with  fiery  conviction.  But 
could  it  be  true?  they  asked,  that  the  Messiah  had 
come.  They  had  waited,  how  long ! — through  the  cen- 
turies they  had  listened  and  looked  for  the  coming  of 
the  King. 

Now  here  was  this  astonishing  traveller  who  had 
come  post-haste  across  from  their  own  native  land  to 
say  that  truly  He,  the  One  sent  from  God,  in  the  per- 
son of  Jesus  Christ,  had  come.  But  how?  That  was 
the  disturbing,  unbelievable  part  of  the  story.  He  had 
suffered,  had  been  condemned  to  death,  and  executed 
by  the  Roman  Government.  Was  it  likely  that  such  a 
one  was  God's  anointed  Messiah  ?  It  was  a  stumbling- 
block  to  them.  Yet  Paul  declared  that  He  was  the 
Christ,  that  He  was  proved  to  be  so  by  the  fact  that 
God  had  raised  Him  from  death.  Paul  knew  this  (he 
said),  for  Christ  had  spoken  to  him  on  the  road  to 
Damascus. 

On  a  week-day  Paul  went  on  with  his  tent-making 
work,  and  spoke  at  the  same  time  to  those  who  would 
hear  him.  He  talked  in  this  way  to  all  kinds  of  people. 
The  dyer,  with  his  arms  blue  to  the  elbows,  bending 
over  his  vats ;  the  potter  shaping  the  clay  on  his  whirl- 
ing wheel;  the  leather-worker  making  crimson  shoes 
or  a  saddle  for  one  of  the  merchants  of  the  city;  the 
shipwrights  bending  the  tough  wood  to  its  place 
on  the  bow  of  a  new  boat; — all  would  hear  Paul. 
Many  also  of  the  wives  and  sisters  of  the  councillors 
and  wealthy  merchants  in  Thessalonica — dressed  in 


THE  GOAD  OF  GOD  203 

those  exquisite  silks  that  were  brought  into  the  harbour 
from  far-off  Persia — also  listened  to  him,  and  were 
convinced. 

So  for  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  Paul  spoke;  and  in 
the  week  the  Greeks  and  Jews  would  come,  while  he 
was  at  work  stitchingf  his  canvas,  and  would  ask 
questions  and  argue  with  him.  One  by  one  and  in 
increasing  numbers  they  came  to  believe  that  what  he 
said  was  true. 

In  Thessalonica,  however,  just  as  in  Antioch-in- 
Pisidia,  Lystra,  and  Iconium,  there  were  many  Jews 
who  thought  that  Paul's  audacity  in  declaring  first 
that  a  Man  who  had  hung  on  the  cross  as  the  Son  of 
God,  and  then  that  He  had  come  for  the  love  of  the 
other  nations  as  well  as  the  Jews,  was  a  blend  of  blas- 
phemy and  treason  against  the  race. 

They  went  round  whispering  to  loungers  at  the 
street  corners  who  were  spoiling  for  a  riot,  and 
said: 

"  These  fellows  who  have  come  into  the  city  are 
trying  to  break  down  the  Roman  rule  and  to  put  up  a 
new  king  in  the  place  of  the  Emperor." 

Soon  they  had  gathered  a  mob  of  ne'er-do-wells. 
"  To  the  house  of  Jason  "  was  the  cry,  for  they  knew 
that  Paul  and  Silas  lived  there. 

Jason  heard  the  noise  of  a  rabble  coming  down  the 
street  in  which  he  lived.  Looking  out  he  could  see 
them  filling  the  road  and  shouting,  waving  their  hands 
in  the  air.  Now  they  were  actually  stopping  in  front 
of  his  house.  They  were  coming  and  battering  at  his 
door. 

"We  want  Paul  and  Silas,"  they  shouted,  and  at- 


204  STORM  AND  STRESS 

tacked  Jason's  house  to  get  at  them;  but  neither  of  the 
two  was  in  the  house. 

In  disappointed  rage  they  seized  hold  of  Jason  and 
some  of  the  other  Christians,  and  dragged  them  along 
to  the  rulers  of  the  city,  called  the  politarchs — or  "  city- 
chiefs."  For  Thessalonica  was  a  free  Roman  city,  and 
appointed  its  own  rulers,  not  receiving  praetors  from 
Rome. 

It  was  difficult  in  the  confused  howling  of  voices 
to  hear  what  was  really  said.  But  the  politarchs  made 
one  man  come  up  and  give  a  statement. 

"  These  fellows  who  upset  the  whole  world  have 
come  here  to  Thessalonica.  Jason  here  " — and  they 
pointed  to  him — "  has  welcomed  them.  They  all  break 
the  decrees  of  Csesar;  for  they  say  that  someone  else, 
named  Jesus,  is  to  be  king." 

A  yell  of  patriotic  rage  went  up. 

The  politarchs  were  disturbed  when  they  heard  this. 
It  was  the  most  awful  cry  that  could  be  raised  in  the 
empire, — this  charge  of  treachery  and  rebellion  against 
Csesar.  The  Jews  raised  this  charge  against  Jesus, 
and  now  against  His  pioneer  missionary.  But  the 
rulers  evidently  felt  that  the  matter  would  blow  over 
most  easily  if  they  took  easy  measures.  They,  there- 
fore, bound  over  Jason  and  the  other  brethren  to 
keep  the  peace. 

Those  who  followed  Christ,  nevertheless,  knew  quite 
well  that  the  Jews  would  start  a  more  serious  attack 
on  Paul  and  Silas  when  they  next  appeared,  and  feared 
it  might  mean  their  being  executed.  They,  therefore, 
persuaded  the  two  that  it  would  be  better  to  leave  the 
city  till  the  fury  of  the  Jews  cooled. 


THE  GOAD  OF  GOD  205 

The  Brothers  (as  the  early  Christians  called  one 
another)  could  hardly  wrench  themselves  away  from 
Paul.  But  it  must  be  done,  for  his  sake  and  their  own. 
The  two  comrades  must  leave  that  very  night.  Paul 
gave  the  Brothers  at  Thessalonica  parting  advice  as 
they  gathered  in  the  darkening  twilight. 

We  can  imagine  with  what  tense  faces  they  would 
lean  forward  to  listen  to  Paul,  as  he  told  them  in  very 
straight,  strong  words  how  the  Lord  Jesus  wanted 
them  to  live.  We  know  some  of  the  things  that  he 
said,  for  he  recalled  them  to  the  people  in  a  letter  that 
he  wrote  later. 

You  must  keep  clear  from  unclean  living. 

You  should  never  play  a  fraud  on  your  brother. 

You  will  not  need  to  be  told  to  love  one  another ; 
God  Himself  tells  you  that. 

Stick  to  your  own  task. 

Work  with  your  hands  (and  as  he  said  it,  Paul 
might  almost  unconsciously  lift  up  his  tough  hands 
blackened  with  the  day  and  night  work  on  the  heavy 
tent-canvas),  so  that  the  outside  world  respect  your 
straightness,  and  so  that  you  can  support  yourselves. 

We  must  be  clad  in  a  coat  of  mail,  made  of  faith, 
and  love;  and  on  our  heads  the  helmet  of  the  hope 
of  salvation. 

Keep  a  check  on  loafers. 

Never  lose  your  temper  with  anyone. 

See  that  nobody  pays  back  evil  for  evil. 

But  always  make  a  point  of  being  kind  to  one 
another  and  to  all  the  world. 


206  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Rejoice  all  the  time  and  never  give  up  prayer. 
Thank  God  for  everything.'^ 

Between  the  hour  after  sunset  when  darkness  rushes 
swiftly  over  the  land,  and  the  rising  of  the  moon,  Paul 
and  Silas  quietly  escaped.  They  passed  by  the  sentries 
at  the  west  gate,  without  challenge,  into  the  open  road. 
The  leagues  of  the  Egnatian  Way  stretched  before 
them.  The  moon  came  up,  and  its  cold  light  blanched 
the  empty  length  of  the  road  into  ghostly  whiteness. 

Silently  they  strode  out  along  the  road  in  the  cool 
freshness  of  an  early  summer  night.  With  the  memory 
of  the  rods  and  the  prison  of  Philippi  in  their  hearts 
and  the  shouting  of  the  frenzied  mob  of  Thessalonica 
still  in  their  ears,  they  went  out,  despised  and  rejected, 
each,  like  his  Master,  not  "  having  where  to  lay  his 
head." 

They  went,  however,  not  through  the  east  gate 
homeward  to  seek  some  quiet  and  refuge,  but  under 
the  west  gate  out  into  the  Road  of  Empire  to  take 
what  new  adventure  should  befall  them.    , 

*  I  Thess.  iv.  and  v. 


XXII 

THE  SEA  OF  ISLANDS 

PAUL  and  Silas  walked  westward  along  the  pave- 
ment of  the  Egnatian  Way  for  some  miles.  It 
was  probably  May  now,  in  the  year  a.d.  51. 
They  had  been  in  Thessalonica  some  six  months.  By 
this  time,  it  may  well  be,  Timothy  was  with  them, 
having  come  along  from  Philippi.  He  joined  them 
either  at  Thessalonica  or  at  the  city  to  which  they 
were  now  travelling.  When  he  came  he  was  able  to 
tell  Paul  how  Luke  was  giving  new  life  to  the  people 
in  Philippi  by  his  teaching,  preaching,  and  healing. 

By  the  time  the  dawn  had  come  up  they  came  to  a 
fork  in  the  road;  the  paved  Roman  road  going  on  like 
an  arrow  to  the  right.  They  took  a  rougher  road  to 
the  left,  running  south-westward.  This  road  led  them 
along  through  woods,  where  they  would  be  glad  of 
the  shade  from  the  now  scorching  sunshine,  and  over 
rolling  hills  till,  at  last,  they  saw  ahead  of  them  the 
compact,  secure  little  city  of  Beroea,  which  "  lies  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Bernius."  ^  A  Roman  like  Cicero,  be- 
cause Bercea  was  off  the  great  road  from  Rome,  called 
it  "  an  out-of-the-way  place."  * 

When  Paul  stood  up  to  speak  to  the  people  there 

he  found  more  friendly  faces  than  he  had  met  any- 

*  Strabo  I,  p.  511.    Fragment  26. 
'Cicero  In  Piso,  36. 

207 


208  STORM  AND  STRESS 

where  in  his  travel.  They  did  not  simply  take  every- 
thing that  he  said  as  true  on  first  hearing.  But,  as  he 
argued  that  all  the  story  of  the  life  of  the  Israelites 
and  their  Law  and  Prophets  proved  that  Jesus  was  the 
Christ — the  Messiah — they  took  out  their  well-fingered 
rolls  of  parchment,  and  turned  them  to  see  whether  the 
parts  Paul  quoted  agreed  with  what  he  said.  So  con- 
vinced were  they  that  many  of  the  Jews  believed,  and 
with  them  were  large  numbers  of  the  best-known  Greek 
men  and  women  in  Beroea. 

Travelling  Jews  going  up  on  business  from  Beroea 
into  Thessalonica  which  Paul  had  left  would  naturally 
talk  to  their  brother  Jews  about  how  Paul  and  Silas 
and  Timothy  were  persuading  the  people  to  worship 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  Some  of  the  Jews  were  furi- 
ously angry  with  the  incorrigible  apostles  and  came 
hot-foot  from  Thessalonica  along  the  road  to  Beroea. 
They  began  to  work  up  the  mob  into  a  frenzy 
against  Paul,  whom  they  singled  out  as  the  "  ring- 
leader." 

The  Brothers  came  together  to  discuss  what  ought 
to  be  done.  They  decided  that  the  best  thing  was 
that  Paul  should  go  down  to  the  harbour  and  sail 
away,  while  Silas  and  Timothy  stayed  in  Beroea  to 
keep  the  work  quietly  going  on.  It  was  a  great  wrench 
to  Paul;  not  only  because  he  was  leaving  Beroea  itself, 
but  because  it  cut  him  off  more  completely  from  the 
people  whom  he  gloried  in  above  all  his  friends  in 
all  the  cities — the  Brothers  in  Thessalonica  and  in 
Philippi. 

None  of  them  knew  where  it  was  best  for  Paul  to 
go.     They  only  knew  that  he  must  go,  that  the  life 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLANDS  209 

of  their  great  leader,  whose  speech  had  changed  the 
whole  world  for  them,  was  of  unspeakable  importance ; 
and  that,  therefore,  some  of  them  must  go  with 
him  and  bring  back  news  of  the  place  in  which  Paul 
settled. 

So,  without  knowing  where  he  would  sail  to  next, 
Paul  left  Beroea  along  with  friends  from  that  city, 
like  the  Greek  Christian,  Sopater,  son  of  Pyrrhus. 
They  went  down  the  valleys,  riding  toward  the  coast 
hour  after  hour  through  the  midsummer  heat.  Paul 
had  been  driven  on  by  an  invisible  goad  that  would 
not  let  him  rest;  driven  from  the  prison  of  Philippi 
along  the  Egnatian  Way;  hounded  out  of  Thessalonica; 
his  life  threatened  at  Beroea;  it  must  have  seemed  to 
him  as  though  he  would  never  have  "  where  to  lay 
his  head."  He  seemed  like  a  tent-maker  of  the  lives 
of  men,  who  had  no  sooner  begun  to  weave  a  piece 
of  canvas  and  had  got  the  pattern  of  warp  and  woof 
prepared  than  he  was  driven  away — to  start  again  and 
to  be  interrupted  once  more.  How  futile  it  seemed! 
But  what  really  happened  was  that  instead  of  Paul 
completing  his  tent  at  one  place,  he  left  at  one  centre 
after  another  men  and  women  who  had  caught  his 
pattern  and  his  plan  and  would  work  it  out  after  he 
had  left  them.  He  was  the  scout  riding  on  perilous 
work  ahead  of  the  main  army;  the  heroic  pioneer 
missionary. 

"  I  can,  in  Christ  Jesus,  be  proud  of  my  work  for 
God,"  he  said.  **  From  Jerusalem  right  round  (across 
Asia  Minor  and  the  ^gean)  to  Illyricum  (behind 
,Beroea)  I  have  been  able  to  complete  the  forth-telling 
of  the  Good  News  of  Christ — my  ambition  always 


210  STORM  AND  STRESS 

being  to  preach  only  in  places  where  Christ's  name 
has  never  been  heard  before.    So  that 

"They  should  see  which  had  never  learned  about  Him, 
\    And  they  who  had  never  heard  of  Him  should  understand."* 

The  shimmer  of  blue  and  gold  caught  his  eye  as 
Paul  came  out  at  last  in  sight  of  the  Sea  of  Islands, 
— the  ^gean.  They  hastened  down  to  the  harbour 
called  Dium.  There  may  have  been  boats  just  ready 
,to  sail  to  Neapolis,  the  port  of  Philippi,  or  to  the  har- 
bour at  Thessalonica;  but  Paul  would  have  to  pass 
them  by.  Then  he  saw  a  coasting  vessel  preparing  to 
put  to  sea,  with  Greek  letters  on  the  prow,  above  the 
eyes  that  were  painted  there  so  that  the  boat  could  see 
its  way! 

Inquiring  of  the  master-mariner,  they  found  that 
she  was  sailing  for  Athens.  Taking  passage,  Paul  and 
his  friends  went  aboard  and  at  dawn  felt  the  swing 
of  the  sea  under  the  vessel  as  she  ran  out,  hugging 
the  mountain  coast  of  Thessaly  on  her  starboard. 

Young  Sopater,  sitting  under  the  shade  of  the  tall 
sail,  watching  the  coast  go  sliding  past  and  all  the 
mountains  and  the  sea  glowing  in  the  July  sun,  could 
tell  Paul  how  each  mountain  and  headland  had  stories 
of  the  battles  of  the  Greeks  that  his  father  Pyrrhus 
had  told  to  him.  There  was  Olympus  which  his  fathers 
had  always  believed  was  the  council-seat  of  the  gods. 
Now  the  bows  of  the  boat  swung  westward  into  a 
lovely  narrow  channel  between  Artemisium,  situated 
on  an  island  headland,  and  the  mainland. 

The  pillars  of  a  noble  temple  to  Artemis  (Diana)' 

*  See  map  and  Rom.  xv.  17-21. 


THE  SEA  OF  ISLANDS  211 

stood  there  looking  over  the  ocean.  As  they  passed 
into  the  channel,  Sopater — who  would  be  likely  to  have 
read  the  history  of  his  people  by  Herodotus — could  tell 
Paul  how,  from  the  day  when  a  storm  out  on  this 
coast  beat  upon  the  Persian  Fleet — the  Greeks  had 
called  Neptune  (the  sea  god)  "  the  Saviour."  But 
Paul  would  feel  a  shudder  at  the  thought  of  this  idol, 
half-fish,  half-man,  receiving  the  name  of  Saviour 
that  truly  belonged  alone  to  Jesus. 

Right  in  front  of  them,  as  though  stopping  their 
journey,  was  a  shore  backed  by  hills.  Among  those 
hills  (Sopater  could  tell  Paul  as  they  stood  at  the 
bows  looking  up  the  blue  waters),  at  the  Gates  of  the 
Boiling  Springs  (Thermopylae),  three  hundred  Greeks 
defied  the  armies  of  Persia  in  the  most  famous  battle 
of  the  world.  The  man  at  the  rudder-paddle  turned 
the  ship  south-east  again,  and  the  vessel  scudded  along 
— helped  maybe  by  the  strong  north  winds  that  sweep 
down  through  the  mountains.  At  length  they  came 
out  from  this  long  channel  into  the  open  sea  once 
more. 

Round  another  headland,  a  shining  Temple  of 
Athene,  built  of  marble  from  the  quarries  of  Pentelicus 
which  they  passed  farther  on,  showed  that  they  were 
now  nearing  the  wonderful  city  of  this  Victory-god- 
dess. At  last  in  smooth  water  they  beat  up  the  gulf 
till  the  boat  slid  into  the  crowded  harbour  of  Piraeus. 

The  companions  from  Beroea  now  got  ready  to  sail 
back  to  tell  their  friends  at  home  that  they  had  safely 
piloted  Paul  far  beyond  the  reach  of  his  venomous 
enemies  from  Thessalonica. 

"  Tell  Silas  and  my  son  Timothy  to  sail  to  me  with 


212  STORM  AND  STRESS 

all  speed,"  said  Paul  as  the  men  went  aboard  the  little 
sailing  ship  that  was  to  carry  them  back  to  Beroea. 

As  he  stood  on  the  harbour  side,  resting  one  san- 
dalled foot  on  a  stone  mooring  pillar  and  watching 
the  ship  gather  way  under  the  steady  beat  of  the  oars, 
he  was  all  alone.  He  was  alone  for  the  first  time  since 
he  had  walked  across  the  bridge  into  Antioch  in  Syria 
with  Barnabas  eight  and  a  half  years  ago,^  He  was 
lonely  indeed  without  his  close  friends — Silas  and 
Timothy. 

Paul  now  grasped  his  staff  and,  turning  his  back 
on  the  busy  harbour,  strode  up  the  broad  portway  that 
linked  the  harbour  of  Pirseus  with  Athens.  He  walked 
between  the  tremendous  but  already  partly  ruined  walls 
that  ran  from  the  port  straight  up  to  the  city  of 
Athene.  Ahead  he  saw,  lifted  up  on  a  mighty  rock, 
the  crown  and  glory  of  Greece, — the  deathless  beauty 
of  the  Parthenon.  Before  that  majestic  temple  stood 
the  exquisite  and  noble  statue  of  Athene  which  seemed 
as  though  it  were  aflame.  The  bronze  figure  and  its 
gleaming  golden  crown  were  caught  in  the  glory  of  an 
August  sunset. 

Paul  was  in  Athens. 

*  Spring  of  a.d.  43- August,  51. 


XXIII 
THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS 

PAUL  was  in  Athens. 
The  sleepy  Roman  sentinel,  as  he  glanced 
under  his  proud,  heavy  eyelids  at  the  travel- 
stained  Paul  in  his  cloak  and  sandals,  could  never 
guess  that  the  greatest  man  in  the  world  of  that  day 
had  at  that  moment  entered  the  most  learned  and 
brilliant  city  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Still  more  wildly 
absurd  would  it  have  seemed  to  the  sentry  if  a  passing 
prophet  had  told  him  that,  when  all  the  worship  of  the 
gods  of  Athens  had  vanished  like  morning  mist,  and 
when  the  last  sentry  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  fallen 
behind  her  broken  walls,  the  worship  which  Paul  that 
day  brought  into  the  city  would  endure  and  spread  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Though  the  long  street  from  the  Piraeus  gate  to 
the  heart  of  the  city  was  crowded,  Paul  was  very 
lonely.  Up  the  street  went  merchants  riding  on  asses 
with  slaves  running  alongside,  coming  up  from  the 
port.  Greek  mothers  led  their  children  along  the 
shaded  side-walk,  with  its  marble  pillars,  past  the  little 
wooden  shops  where  you  might  buy  figs  and  dates, 
olives  and  oil,  and  goat's-milk  cheese.  Here  a  mother 
stopped  to  bargain  with  the  crafty  merchant  for  a 
length  of  buff-coloured  linen  for  a  tunic  for  her  boy 
who  had  grown  out  of  his  old  one;  there  a  man  stopped 

213 


214  STORM  AND  STRESS 

at  the  armourer's  to  test  the  blade  of  a  Damascene 
sword. 

Lusty  Romans,  keen-witted  Greeks,  olive-skinned 
Syrians,  swarthy  Egyptians,  rubbed  shoulders  with 
Paul  as  he  walked  up  the  street;  but  they  only  made 
him  feel  more  utterly  alone.  For  he  longed  greatly 
for  his  old  friend  Silas  and  his  "  son  "  Timothy,  the 
companions  with  whom  he  had  tramped  the  open 
road  and  sailed  and  shared  meals  and  prison  for  so 
many  days.  He  hoped  that  they  would  hurry  to  him 
when,  they  heard  his  message. 

Paul's  feet  carried  him  on  the  next  Sabbath  to  the 
door  of  the  Jews'  meeting-house,  where  he  spoke  to 
them  after  the  Word  had  been  read.  The  Jews,  and 
the  Greeks  who  had  come  to  believe  in  Jehovah,  listened 
eagerly  to  the  new  truths  that  Paul  poured  forth. 

On  other  days  he  walked  about  the  streets  and  mar- 
kets of  Athens  through  the  hot  August  days.  The 
sun  was  climbing  over  the  ^gean  Sea  when  Paul 
would  issue  forth  in  the  cool  of  the  morning.  He 
always  loved  cities  and  all  the  shifting  many-coloured 
scenes  of  the  streets.  He  preferred  them  to  the 
country.  So  we  can  best  imagine  that  he  would  not 
walk  out  to  listen  to  the  bees  droning  in  the  sunshine 
over  the  purple  heather  of  Hymettus,  gathering  the 
very  "  honey  of  the  gods."  Nor  would  he  stroll  by 
the  Ilissus  stream,  that  ran  by  the  Hill  of  Hymettus 
and  watered  the  Grove  of  the  Lyceum,  under  whose 
shade  Aristotle  in  the  old  days  had  taught  his  disciples. 

Paul  would,  we  can  believe,  be  drawn  to  the  great 
marble  Stadium  between  Hymettus  and  the  city,  where 
he  could  see  the  crowds  of  Athenians,  with  a  sprin- 


THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS  216 

kling  o£  country  people  and  sailors,  watching  the  sports 
about  which  he  wrote  again  and  again  in  his  letters. 
The  wrestlers,  the  brawny  boxers,  and  the  lithe  run- 
ning men  in  their  short  white  tunics,  trained  there  for 
the  great  Pan-athenaic  games  which  drew  people  from 
all  the  country-side  to  Athens.  The  shouts  surged 
to  the  sky  as  the  teams  of  straining  horses,  white  with 
sweat,  thundered  round  the  course,  with  the  drivers  in 
their  reeling  chariots  cracking  their  long  whips  above 
the  maddened  horses'  heads. 

Walking  from  the  Stadium  toward  the  city  Paul 
would  see  the  giant  temple  of  Jupiter  Olympus  rearing 
its  gleaming  marble  columns;  and  beyond  in  the  dis- 
tance he  could  see  the  still  lovelier  Parthenon,  set  like 
a  priceless  jewel  on  the  Acropolis.  Coming  along  the 
street  around  the  foot  of  the  Acropolis,  he  would  see 
the  black  .Nubian  slaves,  and  maybe  British  ones  also, 
waiting  outside  the  theatre  of  Dionysius  which  was  cut 
in  the  living  rock  on  the  south  side  of  the  hill  and 
facing  the  distant  sea. 

The  chattering  Athenian  audience  came  pouring 
from  the  theatre  discussing  the  actors  and  the  play. 
The  slaves  ran  with  their  draped  and  gilded  litters 
for  the  ladies.  The  long-robed  priests,  for  whom  the 
seventy  marble  seats  in  the  front  row  were  reserved, 
might  be  arguing  with  some  Epicurean  philosophers 
as  to  whether  drama  ought  to  reveal  truth  or  should 
simply  give  pleasure.  Doubtless  they  would  come  to 
the  conclusion  that,  in  this  great  play  of  vEschylus 
which  they  had  watched,  the  author  had  given  them 
both  truth  and  pleasure. 

As  Paul  passed  along  he  saw  many  altars  on  which 


216  STORM  AND  STRESS 

men  left  their  offerings;  this  man  in  order  that  the 
god  Mercury  should  protect  him  while  travelling,  or 
this  mother  that  ^sculapius  should  make  her  sick  boy 
well  again;  and  that  youth  that  Venus  should  give 
him  success  in  love,  or  Diana  bring  skill  in  hunting, 
or  Minerva  grant  courage  in  war.  And  Paul  saw  one 
strange  altar  on  which  was  carved: 

TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD   (ArNJ22TQ  GEfl) 

When  Paul  climbed  the  steep  way  up  the  one  ap- 
proach to  the  Acropolis,  and  passed  through  gate  after 
gate  on  to  the  shining  summit,  he  was  face  to  face 
with  the  loveliest  building  in  the  world,  the  Parthenon. 
It  stood  there  looking  out  over  Athens  to  the  sea, 
perfect  in  its  exquisite  proportions,  with  its  lovely 
pillars  and  shaded  portico,  and  the  marvellous  sculp- 
tures of  dancing  youths  and  maidens,  priests,  warriors 
and  horses,  oxen  and  garlands.^  And  within  the 
Parthenon  was  the  gigantic  statue  of  Athene,  the 
goddess  of  Wisdom,  whose  special  care  was  thought 
to  be  over  this  city  named  after  her. 

Paul  felt  a  stirring  within  him  as  he  looked  on  the 
altars  of  Athens  and  thought  of  the  countless  gods 
whom  the  people  worshipped.  For  he  knew  that  in 
truth  all  the  power  that  the  people  believed  to  dwell 
in  Athene  and  ^Esculapius  and  the  other  gods,  really 
belonged  only  to  the  one  God  whose  image  could  not 
be  carved  with  hands — Who  is  Wisdom  and  Health 
and  Love  and  Justice.     This  was  the  most  learned 

*  Some  of  these  very  sculptures  on  which  Paul's  eyes  rested 
may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum — the  Elgin  marbles. 


THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS  217 

city  in  all  the  world:  yet  Paul  knew  with  a  clear 
flaming  certainty  that  he  had  a  Truth  which  contained 
and  surpassed  all  the  truth  its  scholars  knew.  He  could 
see  that  what  these  Athenian  worshippers  of  three 
thousand  idols  desired  to  know  was  Life — yes,  to  know 
the  real  truth  and  the  way  to  live.  And  Paul  was 
quite  sure  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Way  and  the 
Truth  and  the  Life. 

Paul  went  down  from  the  Acropolis  and  passed  the 
sacred  rock-cleft  in  which  the  Furies  dwelt;  went  by 
the  holy  place  under  which  Agamemnon's  bones  lay 
buried,  beyond  the  hill  where  the  High  Council  of  the 
Areopagus  sat  in  judgment;  and  walked  under  a 
beautifully  carved  marble  archway  into  the  Agora — 
the  market-place. 

The  hum  of  busy  voices  fell  on  Paul's  ears,  men 
chaffering  over  the  prices  of  their  wares — selling  and 
buying  fish  from  the  ^gean  Sea,  woollen  stuff  from 
the  Greek  hill-villages,  purple  cloths  from  Tyre, 
earthen  jars  and  pitchers  and  dishes,  lovely  glass  ves- 
sels from  Sidon.  There  were  cheese  and  oHves,  bread 
and  wine  for  the  housewives;  for  the  students  of  the 
University,  parchment  and  vellum  and  wax  tablets. 
On  a  raised  platform  slaves  lounged  in  the  sun  while 
the  auctioneer  knocked  them  down  to  the  highest 
bidder. 

On  one  side  of  the  market-place  Paul  saw  a  group 
of  men  in  long  white  robes  fringed  with  purple  and 
blue  and  yellow,  talking  in  a  secluded  shaded  place, 
where  there  were  no  booths.  Some  of  the  elder  men 
rested  on  a  marble  seat;  younger  men  stood  listening. 
The  younger  men  were  students  at  this  University  of 


218  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Athens.  They  had  come  from  all  over  the  Empire  to 
get  wisdom — men  from  Rome  and  Corinth,  Ephesus 
and  Tarsus,  Antioch  and  Damascus.  One  or  another 
of  them  would  occasionally,  after  a  ripple  of  laughter 
had  gone  round  the  group,  make  a  note  of  a  smart 
saying  with  his  pointed  ivory  stylus  on  his  wax  tablet. 
Paul  went  near  to  the  group  and  listened.  They 
were  arguing,  using  long  difficult  words  about  very 
high  thoughts.  Some  of  them  said  that  God  was 
simply  all  the  Life  that  there  is  in  trees  and  animals 
and  men,  all  the  force  that  drives  the  winds  and  the 
seas.  The  world  that  we  see  is  the  garment  of  that 
serene,  unfeeling  Power  which  is  God.  Man  should 
aim,  these  Stoics  said,  at  reaching  a  like  serene  free- 
dom from  feelings  of  mere  pain  or  pleasure. 

Paul  knew  their  arguments  very  well;  indeed  he 
probably  knew  all  about  them  when  he  was  quite  young 
in  his  native  place.  Tarsus.  For  in  Tarsus  University 
itself  this  way  of  looking  at  things — called  the  Stoic 
philosophy — had  been  taught  for  many  years. 

"  Our  teacher,  Epicurus,  teaches  us,"  one  of  the 
speakers  on  the  other  side  might  say,  "  that  we  must 
'  First  believe  that  God  is  a  Being  blessed  and  im- 
mortal, according  to  the  notion  of  a  god  commonly 
held  amongst  man ;  and,  so  believing,  you  will  not  say 
anything  about  Him  that  is  contrary  to  everlasting  life 
and  to  happiness.  Men  should  aim — not  to  be  above 
feeling — as  you  Stoics  say — but  to  take  pleasure,  not 
in  wild  excesses,  but  in  quietly  seizing  each  moment 
and  pressing  out  all  the  happiness  that  it  can  give.'  " 

Then  the  Epicurean  ceased  and  a  Stoic  asked  him 
clever  questions  that  would  lead  him  into  contradicting 


THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS  219 

himself  if  he  was  not  very  careful.  This  way  of 
arguing  by  asking  questions  they  called  the  Socratic 
method,  because  a  very  great  thinker,  Socrates,  had 
used  it  in  Athens  centuries  before  Paul  was  there. 

Paul's  brain  was  keen  and  his  tongue  was  swift. 
He  had  not  listened  long  before  he  dropped  a  question 
that  made  the  Greek  debaters  turn  to  see  whose  was 
this  new  voice.  His  eyes  flashed  keenly  as  he  met  and 
answered  the  questions  that  came  back  swiftly  to  him. 
We  do  not  know  exactly  what  he  said  to  them,  but 
he  certainly  spoke  about  Jesus  and  His  Resurrection, 
and  argued  that  Jesus  alone  really  told  men  the  nature 
of  God,  for  which  they  were  groping.  They  saw  from 
his  face  and  his  clothes  that  he  was  not  a  University 
man.  Some  thought  he  must  be  just  a  half-educated 
crank  from  the  provinces. 

"  What  would  this  '  smatterer '  say?  "  sneered  one. 

"  He  seems  to  be  talking  about  some  foreign  gods," 
said  another. 

They  felt  superior  to  this  "  outsider,"  but  their 
curiosity  got  the  better  of  them — for  the  Athenians 
loved  nothing  better  than  to  hear  the  latest  craze  from 
the  East.  So  the  leaders  decided  to  take  him  from 
the  clamour  of  the  market-place  to  a  quieter  spot, 
where  Paul  could  explain  the  whole  of  his  new  teach- 
ing without  distraction. 

"  Come,"  they  said,  as  they  took  hold  of  his  arm  and 
led  him  away,  "  let  us  know  what  is  this  new  teaching 
that  you  are  talking  about.  For  you  have  brought 
some  strange  things  to  our  ears.  We  wish  to  know, 
therefore,  just  what  these  things  mean."  They  led 
him  toward  a  long  sloping  rocky  hill,  called  the  Areo- 


220  STORM  AND  STRESS 

pagus,  a  few  hundred  yards  away  to  the  south  of  the 
market-place. 

In  the  side  of  the  hill  and  facing  the  market-place 
a  little  plateau  had  been  cut  in  the  living  rock.  It  was 
in  the  shadow  comparatively  early  in  the  day,  and  was 
quiet.  Here  the  men  paused  ^ — Athenian  and  foreign 
— grouped  round,  stylus  in  hand,  to  listen;  and  behind 
them  the  crowd  of  inquisitive  loiterers  waited,  listen- 
ing. Among  these  was  a  woman  from  a  foreign  land 
whose  name  was  Damaris. 

Paul  had  had  little  time  to  prepare  what  he  would 
say  to  this  learned  and  critical  audience,  but  his  brain 
went  swift  and  sure  to  the  very  thing  that  would  grip 
their  attention  and  make  them  feel  that  he  understood 
their  minds.  "  Men  of  Athens,"  he  began,  "  I  see  at 
every  turn  that  you  are  unusually  given  to  the  worship 
of  deities.  As  I  walked  along  and  scanned  the  objects 
of  your  worship,  I  actually  came  upon  an  altar  bear- 
ing this  inscription: 

TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD. 

What  you  worship  in  ignorance,  I  proclaim  to  you. 
God,"  he  continued,  appealing  to  the  belief  of  the 
Stoics  and  Epicureans,  "  the  God  who  made  the  world 
and  all  things  in  it,  He,  as  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
does  not  dwell  in  shrines  made  with  human  hands." 

Paul  would  point  to  the  lovely  temple  of  Theseus 
that  shone  in  the  sunlight  on  a  hill  beyond  the  market- 
place. 

"  He  is  not  served  by  human  hands,"  continued 

'  The  reasons  for  believing  that  this  was  the  spot  on  which 
Paul  spoke  I  have  given  in  full  in  The  Expository  Times,  1915. 


THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS  221 

Paul,  "as  if  He  needed  anything;  for  it  is  He  who 
gives  life  and  breath  and  all  things  to  all  men.  He 
has  made  of  one  nature  all  nations  of  men,  to  live  all 
over  the  earth,  fixing  their  allotted  periods  and  the 
boundaries  of  their  abodes,  meaning  them  to  seek  for 
God  on  the  chance  of  finding  Him,  in  their  groping  for 
Him,  But  indeed  this  God  is  close  to  each  one  of 
us,  for  it  is  in  Him  that  we  live  and  move  and  exist; 
as  some  of  your  own  poets  have  said : 

"  *  For  his  very  offspring  we  are.'  " 

The  wise  Athenians  must  have  raised  their  eyes  in 
surprise  to  hear  this  Jew  quoting  their  own  poets. 
Paul  may  well  have  learned  at  Tarsus  this  maxim  of 
the  poem  from  which  he  quoted.  For  Cleanthes,  who 
was  a  Stoic  philosopher,  had  more  than  three  hundred 
years  earlier  written  a  poem  which  was  known  wher- 
ever the  Greek  language  was  spoken.    It  ran : 

"  God,  most  glorious,  called  by  many  a  name, 
Nature's  great  King,  through  endless  years  the  same; 
Omnipotent,  who  by  thy  just  decree 
Controllest  all,  hail  Zeus !  for  unto  thee 
Behoves  it  mortals  in  all  lands  to  call. 
We  are  thine  offspring."  ^ 

"  After  all,"  we  can  imagine  some  of  them  saying, 
"  this  Jew  has  more  in  him  than  we  had  expected. 
He  knows  something  of  our  philosophy  and  our  poets." 

*  Or  he  may  have  been  quoting  the  less  known  poet  Aratus, 
who  had  lived  in  the  third  century  B.C.  in  Paul's  own  province 
Cilicia.    Aratus  wrote : 

"  Zeus  fills  all  the  city  streets, 
All  the  nations'  crowded  marts ;  fills  the  watery  deeps, 
And  heavens :  every  labour  needs  the  help  of  Zeus. 
His  offspring  are  we." 


222  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Paul  went  on,  with  the  men  sitting  chin  in  hand, 
listening. 

"  Well,  as  the  race  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  imagine 
that  the  divine  nature  resembles  gold  or  silver  or  stone, 
the  graven  product  of  human  art  and  invention.  The 
ages  of  such  ignorance  God  overlooked :  but  He  now 
charges  men  that  they  all  everywhere  do  repent,  inas- 
much as  He  has  fixed  a  day  on  which  He  will  judge 
the  world  justly  by  a  Man  whom  He  has  destined  for 
this.  And  He  has  given  proof  of  this  to  all  by  raising 
Him  from  the  dead." 

"  Pshaw !  Absurd !  "  cried  some  of  his  hearers, 
stung  into  interruption  by  the  mad  notion — as  it 
seemed  to  them — of  anyone  who  had  once  been  dead 
ever  being  raised  to  life  again.  And  some  of  them 
laughed  at  him. 

One  man,  however,  a  member  of  the  court  called 
after  the  Areopagus,  sat  quiet,  meditating.  His  name 
was  Dionysius.  He  saw  at  a  glance  how  true  Paul's 
speech  had  been,  up  till  those  strange  last  words. 
Might  not  that  tale  too  of  Paul's  about  the  resurrection 
be  true?  After  all,  if  God  made  men,  surely  He  could 
bring  one  again  from  the  dead. 

The  meeting  broke  up,  and  the  men  strolled  back  to 
the  Agora  with  some  joking  word  about  wasting  time 
on  the  mad  ideas  of  a  Jew  whose  speech  they  would 
forget  in  a  week.  But  that  speech  is  now  the  most 
famous  in  all  history — while  the  very  names  of  those 
men  are  forgotten,  except  the  one  who  was  now  wait- 
ing to  speak  with  Paul. 

"  I  would  like  to  hear  more  of  this  teaching,"  said 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite. 


THE  SCORN  OF  ATHENS  223 

In  the  background  the  woman,  Damaris,  also  Hn- 
gered,  wishing  to  know  more  from  Paul's  lips. 

These  two,  with  some  others,  sat  with  Paul  while 
he,  with  all  his  soul  in  his  words,  poured  out  the 
story  of  how  God  had  shown  His  love  to  the  whole 
world  by  giving  His  Son  Jesus  to  live  and  love  and 
die  for  men,  and  had  shown  that  Jesus  was  indeed  His 
Son  and  the  true  Saviour  of  men  by  raising  Him 
from  the  grave. 

'At  last  Paul's  time  was  up.  He  had  come  in  August, 
and  it  was  still  early  autumn:  his  stay  had  measured 
only  weeks.  Nor  had  he  been  persecuted.  But  the 
Voice  called  him.  onward  from  the  icy  flippancy  of 
Athens,  telling  him  he  could  do  better  work  in  another 
place. 

He  girt  his  tunic  about  his  loins  and  grasping  his 
stick  once  more  made  his  way  down  the  long  street 
and  out  through  the  Piraeus  gate,  until  the  waters  of 
the  harbour  were  at  his  feet.  He  boarded  one  of  the 
many  boats  going  westward  up  the  gulf  to  Cenchreae, 
the  eastern  landing  place  of  Corinth. 

And  men  to-day  do  not  judge  Paul  with  the  sneer- 
ing judgment  that  the  wise  men  of  Athens  passed 
upon  him;  they  rather  judge  the  Athenians  of  that 
day  by  their  failure  to  know  the  supreme  greatness  of 
the  hero  and  saint  who  now  left  their  gates  for  ever. 
Of  all  the  men  who  ever  spoke  in  Athens  the  greatest 
were  Socrates  and  Paul.  Athens  slew  Socrates  by 
poison.    It  froze  Paul  out  with  a  laugh. 


XXIV 
THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH 

WITH  the  morning  sun  astern,  the  ship  in  which 
Paul  had  taken  passage  tacked  up  the  broad 
gulf  past  Salamis  Island  toward  Cenchrese. 
As  she  ran  westward  and  the  day  wore  on,  the  purple 
mountains  drew  closer  to  the  gulf,  till  the  waters 
lapped  the  feet  of  the  hills. 

Paul,  as  he  stood  at  the  bow,  gazing  toward  the 
now  setting  sun,  could  see  the  stone  piers  of  Cenchrese 
harbour,  backed  by  the  busy  port  town,  and — as  they 
drew  still  nearer — he  could  catch,  beyond  the  town 
itself,  the  gleam  of  marble  temples  through  the  trees. 

The  boat  threaded  its  way  through  the  shipping 
of  the  port,  where  Paul  could  hear  the  songs  and  the 
shouting  of  the  sailors,  black  sailors  from  the  Nile, 
and  swarthy  men  out  of  Spain,  with  Phoenicians, 
Syrians  from  Antioch  and  men  of  Tarsus  and  Rhodes 
and  Ephesus.  The  whole  port  was  alive  with  move- 
ment and  sound;  the  thud  of  sacks  thrown  down  on 
the  wharves  from  the  ships'  holds,  the  endless  proces- 
sions of  men  with  jars  of  oil  on  their  shoulders  pass- 
ing over  the  gangways,  the  grunting  camels  and  the 
donkeys  being  loaded  with  corn  and  wine  and  cheese 
and  silks. 

Cenchreae  was  one  of  the  busiest  harbours  in  the 
world,  for  it  was  the  gateway  from  the  East  to  Corinth 

234 


THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH        225 

and  along  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  to  Italy  and  all  the 
West.  But  every  large  ship  that  came  must  unload 
at  Cenchreae,  so  that  the  camels  and  asses  and  the 
bullock  wagons  might  carry  the  goods  across  the  nine 
miles  of  isthmus  that  lay  between  the  two  gulfs. 
Smaller  boats  were  often  not  unloaded  but  were 
dragged  over  rollers  across  the  land  all  day  by  slaves, 
and  then  slipped  into  the  gulf  on  the  other  side. 

Paul  landed  at  the  harbour,  and  next  morning  took 
the  crowded  road  for  Corinth,  across  the  isthmus  over 
which  the  caravans  were  bearing  the  loads  from  port  to 
port.  On  this  isthmus,  at  the  place  where  it  is  little 
more  than  four  miles  wide,  the  great  Isthmian  games 
were  held,  which  drew  over  thirty  thousand  Greeks 
from  all  the  country  round,  from  the  towns  along  the 
two  gulfs  and  from  the  mountain  lands  of  Greece, 
from  Parnassus  and  Helicon  and  Delphi. 

The  finest  athletes  from  the  different  cities  came 
together  there  every  two  years  for  these  great 
Isthmian  games, — they  wrestled,  and  boxed  with  iron- 
studded  leather  straps  over  their  knuckles;  they  fought 
lions  from  Africa  and  tigers  from  the  East  simply 
armed  with  shield  and  sword;  they  flung  spears  and 
threw  quoits  and  ran  foot  races.  Amid  the  frenzied 
cheers  of  the  Greeks,  the  charioteers  drove  their 
quivering  galloping  horses  round  the  stadium. 

The  prize  to  each  winner  was  simply  a  wreath  cut 
by  a  priest  with  a  golden  knife  from  trees  in  the  sacred 
grove  near  the  sea  where  the  Temple  of  Neptune  stood. 
When  the  proud  winner  went  back  to  his  little  city 
among  the  hills,  with  his  withering  wreath  in  his  hand, 
the  Council  and  the  people  would  gather  to  cheer  and 


226  STORM  AND  STRESS 

wave  ribbons  in  the  air;  and  a  sculptor  would  make  a 
statue  of  the  winner  in  marble,  and  set  it  up  in  the 
city  square,  and  on  the  head  of  the  statue  a  wreath 
was  carved. 

Paul  passing  on  went  through  the  Cenchrese  gate 
of  the  city  of  Corinth,  and  straight  along  the  street 
till  he  came  out  into  the  open  market  where  men 
sold  goods  from  all  over  the  world  of  that  day.  The 
market  and  the  streets  were  not  old,  for  the  old  city 
had  been  wiped  out  by  a  conqueror  centuries  earlier. 
But  Julius  Caesar — a  short  time  before  he  started  the 
conquest  of  Britain — and  some  fifty  years  before  Paul 
was  born — had  rebuilt  Corinth.  The  city  was  now 
immensely  rich,  for  the  merchants  of  Rome  and 
Puteoli,  Brundisium  and  Spain  brought  their  wares 
to  Corinth  in  exchange  with  the  merchants  of  Philippi 
and  Thessalonica,  Ephesus,  Smyrna  and  Rhodes. 
And  on  all  the  goods  that  changed  hands  Corinth  itself 
levied  toll. 

The  sound  of  the  click  and  hiss  and  "  clump  "  of  a 
hand-loom  caught  Paul's  ear.  He  looked  into  a  little 
open  shop  and  saw  a  man  of  his  own  handicraft  mak- 
ing tent-cloth.  In  the  tent-maker's  booth  lay  ropes 
and  lengths  of  cloth,  poles  and  pegs. 

Paul  saw  at  once  that  the  tent-maker  was  a  Jew. 
He  stopped  and  spoke  to  him,  saying  that  he  himself 
was  a  tent-maker. 

"  My  name  is  Aquila,"  the  Jew  told  him  as  he 
paused  in  his  work.  "  I  have  come  with  my  wife 
Priscilla  from  Rome.  We  have  been  driven  from 
Rome  with  many,  many  more  by  the  Emperor.  For 
Claudius  has  passed  an  edict  exiling  all  Jews  from 


THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH        227 

Rome  on  pain  of  death.  My  old  home  was  far  away 
in  Pontus." 

Then  Paul  would  tell  Aquila  that  his  home  was 
away  in  Cilicia.  Pontus  lay  far  north  of  Cilicia  on 
the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea. 

Aquila  invited  Paul  into  his  house.  Paul  went  into 
the  shadow  of  the  dark  workshop  and  into  the  living 
room  behind  where  Priscilla  was  at  her  housework. 
The  three  soon  became  fast  friends  and  it  was  settled 
that  Paul  should  live  with  them  while  he  was  at 
Corinth.  Paul  set  to  work  with  needle  and  thread 
upon  the  heavy  hair-cloth,  making  tents  so  that  he 
should  be  earning  his  own  living. 

At  night  when  work  was  done  Aquila  would  tell 
Paul  about  Corinth  and  sometimes  Paul  would  go  out 
in  the  day  to  see  the  city.  Close  behind  Corinth  he 
saw,  overshadowing  the  city,  the  great  cone  of  the 
Acro-Corinth,  a  hill  that  leapt  sheer  out  of  the  plain, 
a  thousand  feet  in  height.  Up  the  one  steep  path 
along  the  western  face  of  the  hill  men  climbed  to  the 
wall-surrounded  citadel  at  the  top.  Like  a  crown  on 
the  height  itself  stood  a  beautiful  Temple  of  Venus, 
attended  by  a  thousand  priestesses,  dressed  in  white 
robes,  yet  living  unclean  lives  that  spread  evil  through 
all  the  city  beneath.  If  Paul  climbed  the  steep  path 
to  that  hill-top  he  would  see  looking  east  the  roofs  of 
Cenchreae  and  the  blue  gulf  running  down  to  Athens, 
while  to  the  west  the  lovely  Gulf  of  Corinth  ran  out  to 
the  Adriatic  Sea  and  toward  Italy  itself,  and  to  the 
north  rose  the  beautiful  mountains  on  the  blue  haze 
across  the  gulf. 

On  the  Sabbath,  Paul  and  his  friends  went  down  the 


228  STORM  AND  STRESS 

busy  streets — for  Corinth  had  no  rest-day — and  into 
the  meeting-house,  passing  under  the  Hntel  on  which 
"  Synagogue  of  the  Hebrews  "  was  carved  in  Greek.^ 
Paul  would  be  received  with  great  respect  by  the 
elders  and  people,  for  he  was  a  Rabbi  who  had  gradu- 
ated at  Jerusalem  at  the  feet  of  the  great  Gamaliel. 

There  was  a  stir,  however,  in  the  synagogue  when 
this  newcomer,  with  his  swift  speech  and  passionate 
words,  told  these  people  who  waited  for  the  Messiah, 
that  already  the  Christ  had  been  born  and  had  died 
the  death  of  a  felon  on  a  Roman  cross  and  had  been 
raised  again.  We  are  not  told  what  he  said  to  them, 
only  that  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath. 
One  thing  we  know,  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  method  he  used  at  Athens  was  not  the  one 
for  him  to  use  here.    For  as  he  wrote  to  them : 

"  I. did  riot  come  to  you  with  clever  speech  or  with 
wisdom.  I  made  up  my  mind  not  to  know  anything 
among  you  except  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 

The  Jews  in  the  synagogue  muttered  uneasily  at 
this  man  who  dared  to  say  that  a  man  who  was 
nailed  to  a  Roman  gallows  could  ever  be  the  Son  of 
God. 

About  that  time  two  men — a  young  Greek  (who, 
however,  had  a  Jewish  tinge  in  his  hair  and  face) 
and  an  older  bearded  man  came  walking  into  Corinth. 
Paul's  eyes  lighted  with  joy  as  he  saw  them.  They 
were  his  comrades,  Silas  and  Timothy,  who  had  hur- 
ried down   from  Macedonia    (Timothy   from   Thes- 

^  A  fragment  of  the  door-lintel  of  the  ancient  synagogue  of 
Grseco-Roman  times  has  recently  been  discovered,  and  is  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  at  Corinth. 


N 


^"■^ 


/'//o/o  <^.i'  ]  L  i<'cist/  .]Jut/ie-cus 

A  STREET  IN   CORINTH,   AND  THE  ACRO-CORINTH 
The  lintel  of  the  synagogue  of  Paul's  day  was  discovered  near  this 


street. 


THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH        229 

salonica  and  Silas  from  Beroea)  to  Athens  and  had 
followed  him  on  to  Corinth.  Paul  simply  overflowed 
with  joy  when  he  heard  that  persecution  utterly  failed 
to  shake  the  courage  of  the  Christians  in  Thessalonica, 
and  he  sat  down  at  once  and  dictated  a  letter  to  them. 
Timothy  would  sit  with  a  long  scroll  of  papyrus  un- 
rolled, writing  down  in  Greek  letters.  This  is  a  part 
of  what  he  wrote: 

"  When  Timothy  came  just  now  from  you  to  us 
and  brought  us  glad  news  of  your  faith  and  love,  and 
that  you  have  good  remembrance  of  us  all  the  time, 
wishing  as  greatly  to  see  us  as  we  desire  to  see  you, 
then  brothers,  we  were  made  happy  over  you  .  .  . 
for  now  we  live,  if  you  stand  fast  in  the  Lord.  How 
can  we  express  our  thanks  to  God  again  for  you,  for 
all  the  joy  that  makes  us  glad  for, your  sakes  before 
our  God?  .  .  .  Love  one  another.  Study  to  be 
quiet.  Do  your  own  business  and  work  with  your 
own  hands.  .  .  .  Do  not  do  evil  for  evil  to  any 
man." 

Paul  now  seemed  aflame  as  never  before  with  the 
Good  News  that  he  had  to  tell  to  Corinth.  Like  a 
mountain  torrent  in  full  spate  his  words  would  not 
wait,  nor  could  he  brook  delay.  He  stood  before  the 
synagogue  and  cried  to  them  with  arms  outstretched : 

"  We  come  as  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though 
God  sent  us  to  win  you  to  Him.  .  .  .  We  come  show- 
ing ourselves  to  be  His  Ministers — patiently,  in  suf- 
fering, in  poverty,  in  distresses,  beaten,  imprisoned 
and  mobbed;  labouring,  watching,  going  hungry;  by 
pureness,  by  knowledge,  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  by  love 
without  fraud;  by  the  armour  of  justness  on  the  right 


230  STORM  AND  STRESS 

arm  and  on  the  left  .  .  .  men  sorrowful  yet  always 
full  of  joy;  poor  and  yet  making  many  others  rich, 
having  nothing  and  yet  possessing  everything," 

He  looked  round  on  them.  The  chief  man  in  the 
synagogue,  Crispus,  was  looking  at  him  with  eyes 
glowing  as  though  all  the  world  had  become  new. 
But  others  stood  up  and  with  angry  voices  asked  how 
long  they  must  listen  to  this  blasphemous  fellow  who 
declared  a  mere  peasant  criminal  was  the  Son  of  God. 
Paul's  blood  was  up.  He  had  given  them  their 
chance  of  knowing  the  truth.  They  refused.  And 
in  his  mind  there  came  the  picture  of  the  Corinth  out- 
side the  synagogue — out  there  under  the  winter  sky 
of  Greece — the  Corinth  with  its  theatres  and  stadium, 
its  temples  and  markets,  its  wild  and  wanton  evil. 

"  Then  with  a  rush  the  intolerable  craving 

Shivers  throughout  me  like  a  trumpet-call, — 
Oh  to  save  these !  to  perish  for  their  saving, 
Die  for  their  life,  be  offered  for  them  all ! "  * 

Paul  rose,  and  loosening  his  robe  he  took  its  skirt  in 
both  hands  and  shook  it  at  them  as  though  he  shook 
the  dust  of  the  place  from  him,  and  with  passion  in 
his  voice  he  cried : 

"  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads.  I  am  clean : 
from  this  hour  onward  I  go  to  the  peoples." 

The  contemptuous  shaking  out  of  his  tunic  infuri- 
ated the  Jews,  who  ground  their  teeth  on  him  as  he 
went  out  of  the  synagogue,  never  to  return.  Close 
by  the  synagogue  lived  a  man  named  Titius  Justus,  a 
Roman  who  had  become  a  fellow-worshipper  with  the 

» F.  W.  H.  Myers,  "  St.  Paul." 


THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH        231 

Jews,  but  now  shared  Paul's  faith.  Justus  and  Paul, 
being  both  Roman  citizens,  would  have  a  fellow  feel- 
ing. So  when  Crispus,  the  chief  man  of  the  syna- 
gogue, came  out  with  Paul,  they  went  into  Justus' 
house  next  door.  Here  Paul  gathered  those  who 
wished  to  hear  him;  and  many  of  the  Corinthians 
who  would  never  have  appeared  inside  a  synagogue 
came  to  listen  and  believed  on  Jesus  Christ. 

Yet  Paul,  as  he  thought  of  the  anger  his  protest 
must  have  provoked,  wondered  if  it  would  not  be 
better  to  remain  quiet  for  a  little,  for  he  now  knew 
that  the  Jews  would  be  sure  to  set  up  a  ferment 
against  him,  as  they  had  done  in  Lystra,  Philippi, 
Thessalonica  and  indeed  all  along  his  path.  When 
Paul  lay  on  his  mat-bed,  wondering  what  would  hap- 
pen next  to  him,  there  came  a  vision  in  his  sleep. 
These  words  came  to  him,  in  a  vision,  as  from  Jesus 
Christ  to  himself : 

'*  Do  not  be  afraid :  speak  on.  Do  not  hold  your 
peace.  I  am  with  you.  No  man  shall  hurt  you.  For 
I  have  many  people  in  this  city." 

So  Paul  boldly  went  on  with  his  speaking.  We 
know  some  of  the  words  that  he  said,  for  he  wrote 
afterward  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Christians  at 
Corinth : 

"  If  ye  keep  in  memory  what  I  preached  to  you 
I.  .  .  first  and  foremost  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins 
and  was  buried  and  rose  again  the  third  day,  and  was 
seen  of  Peter  and  then  of  the  Twelve,  .  .  .  And 
last  of  all  he  was  seen  by  me  also.  .   .   . 

"  Thanks  be  to  God  who  gives  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Therefore  my  loved 


232  STORM  AND  STRESS 

brothers,  stand,  stand  fast,  unmovable,  always  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

"  You  know  (you  men  in  this  city  that  is  full  of 
temples  to  the  gods)  that  you  yourselves  are  the 
Temple  of  God.  The  Spirit  of  God  lives  in  you, 
as  in  a  temple.  If  any  man  makes  God's  temple  un- 
clean, God  will  destroy  him,  for  the  temple  of  God 
is  holy,  which  temple  you  yourselves  are." 

So  he  taught  them  that  they  must  keep  their  lives 
as  a  spotless  temple,  in  that  city  which  was  so  filthy 
in  its  life  that  even  in  the  Roman  Empire  of  that  day 
to  be  called  a  "  Corinthian  "  was  to  be  called  a  man  of 
dishonourable  name. 

"  Do  you  not  know,"  he  said  to  these  men  who  had 
from  the  time  they  were  boys  been  familiar  with  the 
Isthmian  games,  *'  that  they  which  run  in  a  race  all 
run,  but  one  wins  the  prize  ?  So  run,  that  you  may  be 
victors.  And  every  man  entering  for  an  athletic  con- 
test goes  into  thorough  training.  Now  they  do  this 
to  win  a  wreath  that  will  wither;  but  we  for  a  wreath 
that  cannot  fade.  I  therefore  run,  not  as  a  man  who 
does  not  know  the  goal;  I  box  not  like  a  man  beating 
the  air.    No !    I  buffet  my  body  to  be  master  of  it." 

The  more  vigorously  Paul  spoke  to  the  people  of 
Corinth  and  the  greater  the  number  of  men  and 
women  who  came  to  him,  the  more  furious  did  the 
Jews  become.  But  they  seemed  to  be  unable  to  do 
anything.  They  would — like  the  Jews  in  Philippi — 
have  trumped  up  some  evidence  that  Paul  was  teach- 
ing people  to  break  the  Roman  law;  but  probably  the 
governor  of  Corinth — which  was  capital  of  all  Achaia 
(i.e.  South  Greece) — was  friendly  to  Paul  and  per- 


.THE  CHALLENGE  TO  CORINTH       233 

haps  knew  (it  may  be  through  Justus)  that  Paul  was 
a  loyal  free-born  Roman  citizen. 

At  last  this  governor  was  recalled  to  Rome  and  a 
new  proconsul  was  appointed — Gallic,  the  brother  of 
that  famous  author  Seneca,  who  became  private  tutor 
to  young  Nero.  The  Jews  made  up  their  mind  to  try 
now,  once  and  for  all,  to  get  Paul  stopped  in  his 
work. 

The  proconsul  sat  at  certain  hours  on  his  ivory 
sedile  of  office  on  the  marble  dais  of  justice  for  any 
to  bring  their  case  before  him.  So  the  Jews  seized 
Paul  and  drew  him  along  to  the  Tribunal. 

Gallio  looked  up  as  the  rabble  of  Jews  came  crowd- 
ing in  breathlessly. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"  This  fellow,"  said  their  leader  (probably  Sos- 
thenes,  the  new  chief  man  of  the  Jewish  synagogue) 
pointing  to  Paul,  "  is  persuading  men  to  worship  God 
contrary  to  the  law." 

Swiftly  Paul  stepped  forward  ready  to  speak,  when 
Gallio  with  lifted  hand  called  for  silence  and 
said : 

"  You  Jews,  there  would  be  some  sense  in  my  enter- 
taining your  charge  if  it  were  a  matter  of  breaking 
the  Roman  law;  but  if  this  is  a  mere  question  of 
debate  and  words  between  you  and  only  concerns  your 
Jewish  law,  look  to  it  yourselves.  I  will  be  no  judge 
of  things  that  do  not  concern  me.    Go  away! " 

Gallio  signalled  to  his  lictors  to  drive  the  crowd 
of  Jews  back,  and  they  began  to  hustle  them  away. 
(The  circle  of  Greeks  who  had  been  watching  on  the 
fringe  of  the  crowd  and  who  had  no  love  to  spare  for 


234  STORM  AND  STRESS 

the  Jews,  no  sooner  saw  the  turn  events  had  taken 
than  they  set  on  the  Jews,  and  gripping  hold  of  Sos- 
thenes,  their  leader,  they  thwacked  him  with  staves, 
right  in  front  of  Gallio.  But  Gallic  passed  to  the  next 
case  and  did  not  lift  a  finger  to  protect  Sosthenes. 


XXV 

"LONE  ON  THE  LAND,  AND  HOMELESS  ON 
THE  WATER " 

PAUL  lived  on  in  Corinth  for  many  days  after 
Gallio  had  driven  the  Jews  from  his  judgment- 
seat. 
He  worked  there  through  all  the  blazing  summer 
when  the  hills  beyond  the  gulf  shimmered  in  a  blue 
haze.  He  saw  the  men  and  women  go  out  to  gather 
the  grapes  from  the  vineyards  on  the  hillside,  to  reap 
the  yellow  harvest  of  the  plain,  and  to  garner  the  olives 
and  citrons  from  the  groves  of  the  Isthmus.  He  stayed 
on  through  the  winter,  when  the  snow-covered 
mountains  of  Hellas  were  outlined  in  white  against 
the  grey  sky,  till  spring  came  again  and  all  the  plain 
was  gleaming  with  yellow,  red  and  blue  anemones, 
and  the  black  oxen  dragged  the  wooden  ploughs 
through  the  brown  soil  to  break  it  up  for  the  sowing. 
Through  all  that  time,  the  more  he  thought  about 
Gallio's  judgment  that  he,  Paul,  the  Jew  and  Roman 
citizen,  had  the  right  to  preach  as  he  would  and  where 
he  would  in  the  Roman  Empire,  the  greater  seemed 
the  meaning  of  the  decision.  For  it  meant  that,  so 
long  as  he  did  not  teach  men  to  rebel  against  the 
power  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  Paul  could  carry  his 
adventure  into  Rome  itself.  Priscilla,  whose  name 
suggests  that  she  was  a  Roman  lady  of  high  standing, 

235 


236  STORM  AND  STRESS 

and  Aquila,  her  Jewish  husband,  would  fill  Paul's  mind 
with  their  remembrances  of  the  greatness  of  Rome, 
the  queen  of  cities,  the  mistress  of  the  world,  set 
upon  her  seven  hills  by  the  yellow  Tiber.  The  thought 
of  Rome  never  left  Paul's  mind  from  that  time  on- 
ward. 

Paul  had  now  drawn  together  in  Corinth  men  and 
women,  with  their  sons  and  daughters,  into  a  "  house- 
church."  Among  his  friends  who  worshipped  together 
with  him  were  Titius  Justus  the  Roman  and  Crispus, 
Erastus,  a  great  man  who  was  treasurer  of  the  city 
of  Corinth,  and  Achaicus,  Fortunatus,  Gains  and  Chlce 
with  her  household.  It  may  even  be  that  Sosthenes, 
who  had  been  his  enemy  in  dragging  him  before  Gallio, 
the  new  leader  of  the  synagogue,  had  joined  him :  for 
a  few  years  later,  at  the  beginning  of  his  first  letter 
to  the  Christians  at  Corinth,  Paul  says  that  a  Sos- 
thenes from  Corinth  was  actually  with  him  when  he 
wrote  it.  Paul  now  felt  that,  having  "  as  a  wise 
master-builder  "  laid  firm  foundations  at  Corinth,  he 
must  go  forward  with  his  work  in  other  places. 

When  the  spring-time  came,  and  even  before  the 
ships  hoisted  their  brown  sails  and  had  begun  to 
cross  the  Great  Sea,  Paul  bestirred  himself  to  go 
back  to  Antioch  in  Syria,  the  place  that  had  first  sent 
him  out  on  his  journeys.  But  he  went  back  by  a 
route  on  which  he  had  never  travelled  before  and  he 
started  with  new  companions. 

Aquila  and  Priscilla  decided  to  cross  with  him  over 
the  .^gean  Sea  to  Ephesus.  To  these  Roman  travel- 
lers this  did  not  seem  (as  it  does  to  us)  like  saihng 
from  Europe  to  Asia;   for  Ephesus  was  almost  as 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  237 

Greek  as  Corinth,  and  it  seemed  nearer  to  Athens  than 
did  many  inland  cities  among  the  hills  of  Greece  itself. 
All  the  shores  and  islands  of  the  ^gean  were  one  to 
the  Greek.  All  the  harbours  of  Greece,  except  one, 
look  out  over  the  ^gean  Sea,  so  that  really  Troas, 
Ephesus  and  Smyrna  were  like  cousins  to  Athens  and 
Philippi  and  Thessalonica.^ 

Paul,  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  having  said  a  long 
"  good-bye "  in  Justus'  house,  gathered  their  goods 
and  set  off  down  the  road  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Aero-Corinth  hill  to  Cenchrese.  Paul's  luggage  was 
always  light — his  cloak  and  staff,  his  wallet  for  food, 
and  perhaps  a  few  rolls  of  manuscript  tucked  into  his 
tunic.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  would  have  their  tools, 
and  some  rolls  of  goat's-hair  and  camel-hair  canvas 
and  rope  for  tent-making. 

They  would  stay  a  night  at  the  house  of  Phoebe 
at  Cenchreae,  for  Paul  says  that  she  often  tended  him. 
Taking  their  passage  next  dawn  on  a  sailing  ship  for 
Ephesus,  they  saw  the  hills  of  Greece  slip  past  them, 
and  the  boat  nosed  her  way  out  past  the  island  of 
Salamis  toward  the  open  sea.  With  no  compass  to 
steer  by  and  sailing  in  a  sea  of  rocky  islands,  and 
especially  so  early  in  the  spring,^  the  ship  would  be 
bound  to  look  for  anchorage  under  the  lee  of  an  island 
before  sundown  each  day,  and  hoist  sail  at  dawn  to 
make  the  most  of  each  day's  light.    So  for  day  after 

^See  map  at  end. 

*  Paul  apparently  reached  Jerusalem  by  the  Passover  which 
in  the  year  53  fell  on  March  22.  The  Mediterranean  sea-traffic 
did  not  usually  begin  till  March  5  because  of  the  storms.  There 
would,  no  doubt,  be  early  pilgrim  ships  to  take  the  Jews  from 
all  parts  of  the  empire  to  Jerusalem. 


238  STORM  AND  STRESS 

day  they  sailed,  till  about  the  sixth  day  they  would 
sight  the  island  of  Samos,  and  in  an  hour  or  so,  with 
sails  furled  and  sweeps  out,  were  threading  the  wind- 
ing channel  of  the  River  Caistor  and  the  canal  toward 
the  harbour  of  Ephesus.  Swinging  round  under  the 
lee  of  the  fortified  hill  that  guarded  the  port,  they 
found  themselves  in  a  land-locked  harbour  busy  with 
all  the  life  of  spring, 

Paul  went  ashore,  and  from  the  stone  pier  walked 
up  the  portway  that  ran,  straight  as  a  dart,  between 
its  marble  pillars  from  the  harbour  to  the  heart  of  the 
city.  There  the  theatre  of  Ephesus,  cut  out  of  the 
mountain-side,  and  the  busy  market-place  faced  him. 
As  he  went  round  by  the  theatre,  through  the  Mag- 
nesian  gate,  he  saw  on  the  plain  within  groves  of  trees 
that  seventh  wonder  of  the  world,  the  Temple  of 
Artemis  of  the  Ephesians,^  rising  all  one  glory  of 
golden  carving  and  white  marble,  with  cool  shadows 
where  the  worshippers  went  in  under  the  great  roof 
to  lay  their  gifts  on  the  altars. 

Turning  back  he  went  with  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
to  the  quarter  of  the  city  where  the  Jews  lived.  On 
the  Sabbath  he  walked  with  them  to  a  building  where 
no  images  of  gods  could  be  found — where,  indeed, 
the  only  carving  was  of  a  bunch  of  grapes  and  vine- 
leaves  over  the  entrance.  He  entered  the  cool  dark- 
ness of  the  synagogue  and  spoke  with  the  people,  as 
he  was  wont  to  do,  of  the  coming,  at  long  last,  of  the 
promised  Prince,  the  Messiah.  They  leaned  forward 
as  he  spoke  and  drank  in  his  words  eagerly.  His 
Good  News  seems  too  wonderful  to  be  true;  if  what 

*  Diana  as  the  Romans  called  her. 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  239 

Paul  said  was  true,  all  ought  to  hear  it:  if  false,  his 
mouth  ought  to  be  stopped.  They  wished  to  know 
more. 

"  Stay  with  us  and  tell  us  more,"  they  pleaded. 

"  No,"  replied  Paul,  "  I  must  hasten  to  the  Feast 
at  Jerusalem.    I  will  come  again  to  you,  if  God  wills." 

The  pilgrim  ships  were  now  hasting  on  their  voyages 
from  all  parts  of  the  Great  Sea  to  Cassarea,  which  was 
used  as  a  port  for  travellers  to  and  from  Jerusalem. 
So  Paul  went  down  the  portway  again  to  the  harbour, 
and  saying  "  farewell "  to  Aquila  and  Priscilla  and 
to  his  new-found  friends  in  Ephesus,  he  went  aboard 
a  ship  which  swept  down  to  the  open  sea  for  the 
long  sail  of  over  six  hundred  miles. 

In  those  times,  without  the  mariner's  compass,  sea- 
captains  did  not  like  to  lose  sight  of  land,  and  espe- 
cially in  those  earl^  spring  days  in  the  ^gean  Sea 
when  storms  might  leap  upon  them  from  the  north 
and  the  clouds  would  hide  the  sun.  So  the  ship  in 
which  Paul  sailed  would  hug  the  coast,  leaving  Pat- 
mos  to  starboard,  running  past  Miletus  and  through 
the  strait  between  Cos  and  the  gulf  where  Halicar- 
nassus  lay.  They  would  surely  run  into  the  great 
harbour  at  Rhodes  and  then  come  past  the  mountains 
of  Lycia,  and,  taking  courage  in  both  hands,  sail  south- 
east past  Paphos  in  Cyprus  whence  Paul  had  sailed 
with  Barnabas  those  years  gone  by. 

The  ship's  deck  was  crowded  with  pilgrims  with 
their  rolled-up  mat-beds,  their  staves  and  cloaks,  their 
water-bottles  and  wallets  stuffed  with  raisins  and 
cheese  and  flat  bread.     Old  men  were  there  taking 


240  STORM  AND  STRESS 

their  last  long  journey  to  the  city  on  its  hills,  and 
boys  who  would  remind  Paul  of  the  day  when  he 
had  started  with  his  father  on  his  first  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem.  At  last  the  towers  of  Csesarea  and  the 
sturdy  sickle-shaped  breakwater  hove  in  sight.  The 
great  sail  was  furled  and  the  sweeps  put  out  to  row 
the  ship  into  harbour. 

Once  ashore  Paul  lost  no  time  in  joining  the  throngs 
of  pilgrims  who  strode  out  past  the  stadium  and 
theatre  of  Csesarea,  and  up  the  Roman  road  which 
breasted  the  low  hills  and  climbed  the  Judsean  heights. 
Then  the  golden  pinnacles  of  the  temple  broke  the 
skyline.  Paul's  sandals  again  trod  the  pavements  of 
the  city  where  he  had  trained,  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel, 
that  marvellous  brain  which  now  had  proclaimed  the 
Good  News  of  the  risen  Christ  in  a  score  of  cities 
from  Antioch  to  Corinth,  across  a  thousand  miles  of 
the  Roman  Empire. 

Paul  joined  with  his  friends  in  the  Passover  Feast; 
but  the  narrowness  of  the  Christian  Brethren  in  Jeru- 
salem jarred  terribly  on  his  spirit.  Even  now  they 
could  not  all  see  that  Christ  had  come  with  a  message 
for  all  men  and  all  nations,  a  salvation  that 
broke  through  the  myriad  details  of  the  law  to  that 
flaming  higher  law  of  love  which  was  freedom 
indeed. 

Paul  turned  his  back  on  Jerusalem  and  sped  north- 
ward to  Antioch — probably  by  sea  from  Csesarea  to 
Seleucia.  It  must  have  refreshed  him  to  meet  again 
at  Antioch  the  old  friends  who  had  sent  him  out  to 
run  his  great  adventurous  course  across  the  seas  and 
in    the   cities    of    the    Roman    Empire.      They   too 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  241 

would  sit  around  him — Black  Simeon,  Lucius  from 
Cyrene,  Manaen  and  the  others — with  eyes  shin- 
ing with  alternate  joy  and  sadness  as  he  told  the 
great  story  of  his  adventures  and  those  of  Silas  and 
Timothy. 

How  they  listened  to  the  varied  tale  of  the  call 
to  Macedonia,  the  beating  and  the  prison  in  Philippi, 
and  then  the  earthquake  and  the  coming  of  the  Roman 
prsetors  to  take  them  by  the  hand  and  beg  them  to 
leave;  the  long  tramp  over  the  Egnatian  Way  (with 
the  riot  in  Thessalonica,  and  the  threatenings  at 
Beroea);  the  sailing  to  Athens  where  the  learned 
philosophers  jeered,  though  Dionysius  and  Damaris 
stayed  to  listen  and  to  worship,  and  then  the  great 
days  in  Corinth.  Surely  the  Antiochean  Brethren 
could  not  help  smiling  as  they  heard  how  Sosthenes, 
who  had  dragged  Paul  before  Gallio,  was  himself 
beaten  by  the  people;  yet  they  would  love  still  more 
to  hear  Paul  say  that  Sosthenes  himself  had,  after 
all,  entered  the  Way  of  Salvation. 

The  Mother-church  at  Antioch  had  sent  Paul  out  on 
two  great  missionary  journeys,  each  stranger  and  more 
wonderful  than  they  had  imagined  in  their  wildest 
dreams.  There  had  been  built,  through  the  splendid 
quest  of  Paul  and  his  companions,  outposts  of  the 
Faith,  churches  garrisoned  by  brave  Christians  who 
held  the  line  in  the  great  strategic  centres  halfway 
across  the  Roman  Empire.  From  Antioch  the  line 
now  stretched  across  the  Syrian  mountains  of  Amanus, 
over  the  Cilician  plain  and  through  the  Cilician  gates 
to  the  cities  beyond  Taurus — Derbe,  Lystra,  Iconium, 
Antioch-in-Pisidia — down    to    Ephesus,    and    across 


242  STORM  AND  STRESS 

the  Hellespont  to  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Beroea,  and 
even  to  Athens  and  Corinth.^ 

The  hearts  of  the  friends  of  Paul  at  Antioch  would 
burn  within  them  as  they  listened  to  the  story  and 
looked  into  the  brown  face  of  their  dauntless  pioneer. 
He  would  be  sure  to  share  with  them  his  plans  for 
the  future.  Of  these  we  know  that  he  had  two  on 
which  his  heart  was  at  this  time  specially  set. 

He  was  afraid  that  the  churches  in  cities  across  the 
Empire  might  grow  narrow  and  be  simply  interested 
in  their  own  little  affairs.  So  his  first  plan  was  to 
give  them  a  work  to  do  for  other  people  far  away  from 
themselves.  He  meant  to  set  them  all  to  collect  money 
for  the  help  of  the  poor  who  were  in  Jerusalem.  This 
would  do  great  good  to  the  churches  who  gave  the 
money — by  widening  their  outlook — giving  them  a 
more,  imperial  vision,  and  the  feeling  that  they  be- 
longed to  a  great  Church  which  embraced  all  who 
held  the  Faith  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit.  It  would 
also  greatly  stir  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  Jerusalem, 
who  were  in  danger  of  feeling  that  the  far-off  churches 
were  hardly  truly  Christian,  to  receive  a  gift  from 
those  in  "  the  far-flung  battle-line "  of  Paul's  mis- 
sionary adventure.  That  was  the  first  plan  in  the 
far-seeing  brain  of  Paul,  who  was  a  statesman,  "  a 
wise  master-builder,"  as  well  as  an  heroic  pioneer. 

Another  great  ambition  of  Paul  at  this  time,  one 
that  he  knew  might  cost  him  his  life — as,  indeed,  it 
did — was  to  carry  his  Gospel  into  the  very  heart  of 

*  The  wonder  of  this  achievement  becomes  clearer  and  stronger 
as  the  line  of  the  growth  is  traced  on  the  map.    See  at  end. 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  243 

the  Roman  Empire,  that  is,  to  occupy  the  very  centre 
of  the  world  of  his  day — Rome.  To  bring  into  being 
a  Church  that  felt  itself  to  be  one  throughout  the 
whole  Empire  and  with  a  centre  at  the  capital  of 
the  Empire  itself — that  was  the  daring,  the  tre- 
mendous scheme  of  the  wise  and  undaunted  master- 
builder. 

It  was  now  summer.  Paul  wished  to  carry  out  part 
of  his  first  plan  before  winter  set  in,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  fulfill  his  promise  to  his  friends  at  Ephesus. 
He,  therefore,  left  Antioch  and  went  out  once  more 
across  the  Orontes,  with  his  feet  on  the  open  road 
and  his  face  toward  the  mountain  heights.  Simeon 
and  some  of  the  others  would  be  sure  to  go  out  the 
first  miles  of  the  road  with  him.  But,  as  the  men  of 
Antioch  waved  their  "  farewells  "  to  Paul  and  took 
their  last  look  at  the  sturdy  figure  as  he  rode  his  ass 
along  the  paved  way,  they  would  not  know  that  they 
would  never  look  on  him  again. 

From  dawn  to  dark  he  rode,  leaving  the  great 
Mount  Sulpius  behind  him,  passing  now  the  shore  of 
a  lovely  lake  and  there  a  stream  running  down  from 
the  Amanus  mountains.  He  would  talk  by  the  way- 
side with  the  leaders  of  the  camel-caravans  that  swung 
along  the  great  road  up  the  now  deepening  gorges  of 
the  mountains  and  through  the  dark  shadows  of  the 
Syrian  Gates — the  pass  that  led  into  his  own  native 
Cilician  plain. 

Along  the  great  road — it  was  the  ancient  road 
down  which  Alexander  the  Great  himself  had  come 
with  his  armies — Paul  travelled  till  he   rode  across 


244  STORM  AND  STRESS 

that  bridge  from  which  as  a  boy  he  had  watched  the 
boats  go  down  to  the  harbour  of  Tarsus.  Here,  and 
among  the  other  churches  of  the  plains,  he  spoke  to 
the  Christian  folk,  strengthening  their  courage  and 
helping  them  to  meet  the  arguments  of  their  enemies. 
He  went  along  the  old  streets  down  which  he  had 
run  as  a  boy  to  school,  and  would  see  the  booth  where 
he  had  sat  at  the  loom  and  had  thrust  his  first  needles 
through  the  goat's-hair  tent  canvas. 

Then  Paul  turned  his  back  on  Tarsus  and  went  out 
northward  across  the  plain  to  the  Taurus  mountains. 
As  the  traveller  rested  the  ass  at  the  foot-hills  and 
gazed  back  down  the  road  to  the  roofs  and  orchards 
of  Tarsus,  and  saw  the  silver  ribbon  of  the  river  curv- 
ing down  to  the  harbour,  he  took  his  last  look  at  that 
"  no  mean  city,"  whose  chief  glory  after  all  is  not  that 
Alexander  the  Great  bathed  in  its  river,  or  that  Antony 
entertained  Cleopatra  in  its  palace,  or  that  Atheno- 
dorus  taught  in  its  university,  but  that  Paul  himself 
was  born  within  its  walls. 

So  Paul  passed  for  ever  from  that  plain  up  the 
Cilician  Pass,  where  the  tinkle  of  the  camel-bells  and 
the  music  of  the  mountain  stream  filled  the  grey 
gorges.  Paul  climbed  up  and  on  by  the  Roman  post- 
road  till  he  passed  through  the  shadow  of  the  Cilician 
Gates,  out  on  to  the  high  tableland  of  Cappadocia. 
He  came  out  on  to  the  dry  road  on  which  the  sum- 
mer sun  shimmered,  and  the  very  camels  were  glad 
to  get  out  of  the  rays  of  the  noonday  under  the  shelter 
of  a  wayside  inn. 

He  reached  Derbe,  going  in  by  the  gate  through 
which   some  three  years   earlier  he   and   Silas  had 


HE    WOULD    TALK    P.V    THE    WAYSIDE    WITH    THE    LEADERS 
OF    THE    CAMEL    CARAVANS" 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  245 

entered.  Here — as  everywhere  on  this  journey — he 
told  the  Christian  folk  of  the  needs  of  the  poor  of  the 
church  in  Jerusalem;  and  they  promised  their  gifts. 
So  he  passed  from  Derbe  at  dawn,  when  the  sun  threw 
the  long  shadow  of  the  mountain  of  black  rock  along 
the  path  that  he  was  to  follow  up  the  low  hills. 
Through  the  day  he  walked  till  he  reached  the  bridge 
near  which  the  oxen  quenched  their  thirst  at  sunset 
in  the  shallow  stream  that  ran  over  its  bed  round  the 
Acro-Lystra. 

At  Lystra  (we  can  well  believe)  grandmother  Lois 
and  her  daughter  Eunice  would  want  to  know  all  the 
adventures  that  had  fallen  to  their  boy  Timothy.  They 
would  be  proud  to  hear  how  he  helped  Paul — carrying 
his  cloak,  writing  his  letters  and  bearing  them  to  far- 
off  cities,  facing  the  scourge  and  the  rods,  and  the 
peril  of  sea  and  land  for  Paul's  sake  and  for  the 
Gospel.  Starting  from  Lystra,  perhaps  before  dawn, 
to  get  as  much  journeying  as  possible  done  before  the 
midsummer  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens,  Paul  took 
the  caravan  road  over  the  low  ridge  of  hill  country  and 
down  to  where  the  gushing  river  from  the  mountain 
watered  the  orchards  and  cleansed  the  homes  of 
Iconium.  The  orchard  farmers  of  Iconium  would  be 
busy  scaring  the  birds  from  the  growing  fruit,  in 
the  days  when  Paul  cheered  the  church  there  with 
stories  of  the  wonderful  victories  their  Lord  had  won 
in  the  cities  of  East  and  West. 

So  he  passed  on  his  unresting  travel;  and,  though 
the  grey  was  now  beginning  to  tinge  Paul's  beard  and 
his  hair,  and  the  fiery  sun  made  journeying  a  toil; 
and  though  friends  desired  him  to  stay  and  warned 


246  STORM  AND  STRESS 

him  how  the  brigands  of  the  Pisidian  mountains  lay 
in  wait  ahead,  Paul  never  stayed  his  course.  The 
fire  of  his  passion  for  the  Christ  whom  he  had  met 
on  that  blazing  day  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  so  many 
years  ago,  burned  on  him  always. 

"  Let  no  man  think  that  sudden  in  a  minute 

All  is  accomplished  and  the  work  is  done; — 
Though  with  thine  earliest  dawn  thou  shouldst  begin  it 
Scarce  were  it  ended  in  thy  setting  sun." 

Paul  could 

"  Never  at  even,  pillowed  on  a  pleasure, 

Sleep  with  the  wings  of  aspiration  furled.  ..." 

So  with  staff  and  water-bottle  and  mat-bed,  and 
with  his  satchel  stuffed  with  fruits  and  cheese  and 
bread,  he  got  out  on  to  the  road  again,  till  he  once 
more  joined  the  new  military  Roman  road  that  led 
him  to  Pisidian  Antioch,  where  the  aqueduct  brought 
the  water  from  the  mountains  in  whose  gorges  the 
robbers  hid. 

Paul's  friends  there  would  remember  how  Barna- 
bas and  he  had  first  come  to  them  from  the  fever- 
stricken  Pamphylian  plain  five  years  before,  and  they 
would  be  full  of  joy  at  seeing  him  now  for  the  third 
(although  it  was  the  last)  visit  among  them.  We  do 
not  know  what  he  said  to  them;  but  he  would  be  likely 
to  say  things  as  he  was  leaving  them,  like  those  great 
words  that  he  wrote  to  these  Churches  of  Galatia 
later  on. 

"Brothers,  you  were  called  to  be  free;  only,  do 
not  make  your  freedom  an  opening  for  the  flesh,  but 
serve  one  another  in  love.     For  the  entire  Law  is 


"  LONE  ON  THE  LAND  "  24*7 

summed  up  in  one  word :  *  You  must  love  your  neigh- 
bour as  yourself  ' — whereas  if  you  snap  at  each  other 
and  prey  upon  each  other,  take  care  in  case  you  destroy 
one  another. 

"  I  mean,  lead  the  Hfe  of  the  Spirit;  then  you  will 
never  satisfy  the  passions  of  the  flesh.  .  .  .  The 
harvest  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  good-temper, 
kindliness,  generosity,  fidelity,  gentleness,  self-con- 
trol. 

"  Make  no  mistake  ...  A  man  will  reap  just 
what  he  sows;  he  who  sows  for  his  flesh  will  reap 
destruction  from  the  flesh,  and  he  who  sows  for  the 
Spirit  will  reap  life  eternal  from  the  Spirit. 

"Never  let  us  grow  tired  of  doing  what  is  right; 
for  if  we  do  not  faint  we  shall  reap  our  harvest  at 
the  proper  season." 

Paul's  friends  would  go  with  him  through  the 
western  gate  with  the  dawn  at  their  backs,  as  he  set 
put  on  the  last  great  part  (and  in  some  ways  the  most 
dangerous  part)  of  this  journey.  At  the  beginning 
his  road  lay  on  the  track  that  Timothy  and  Silas  had 
trodden  with  him  three  years  earlier.^ 

He  was  on  the  great  Roman  road.  Down  from 
the  north-east  and  across  this  Roman  road  came  the 
trade  road  along  which  the  camels  brought  the  fruits 
and  silks  of  the  plateau  to  Ephesus  or  the  yEgean 
coast.  Paul  was  going  to  Ephesus,  but  he  did  not 
take  this  safer  caravan  route  with  its  regular  inns 
and  companionship.  He  struck  ahead  on  the  hillier 
and  more  dangerous  road,  where  fewer  men  went, 
'  See  chapter  xviii. 


248  STORM  AND  STRESS 

and  he  travelled  straight  for  Ephesus.  Up  and  down 
the  hills  and  dales  of  Asia  he  passed,  gradually  drop- 
ping from  the  tableland  to  the  river  valleys,  crossing 
the  streams  that  ran  from  the  hills  to  the  Meander 
River,  then  over  the  moorland  to  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Caistor. 

Down  the  valleys  of  the  Caistor  from  highland  to 
lowland  he  rode,  only  drawing  bridle  for  needed  rest 
and  shelter  at  noontide  and  at  night.  For  the  autumn 
was  drawing  on,  the  vineyards  were  purple  with 
grapes  and  the  olives  hung  thick  on  the  trees;  the 
cries  of  the  harvesters  sounded  on  the  hillsides,  and 
the  laughter  of  the  maidens  as  they  trod  the  grapes 
with  their  bare  feet  in  the  wine-press. 

At  last  one  day,  as  Paul  came  round  a  curve  in  a 
valley,  he  felt  a  fresh  breeze  on  his  cheek  and  saw 
a  blue  gleam  on  the  horizon.  The  word  of  the  sol- 
diers of  Greece  when  they  saw  the  Euxine  would 
leap  to  his  lips :  "  Thalassa,  thalassa — the  sea,  the 
sea!" 

Before  him  like  a  map  unrolled  lay  the  mouth 
of  the  Caistor,  the  shining  marble  temples  and  theatre 
and  stadium  of  Ephesus,  and  on  the  edge  the  harbour 
with  its  still  masts  and  crowded  shipping. 

Only  that  very  spring  he  had  sailed  from  that 
harbour  out  into  the  Great  Sea,  and  had  braved  the 
storms  of  March  to  worship  at  Jerusalem  at  the 
Feast.  He  had  gone  over  mountain  pass  and  plain 
and  plateau,  had  seen  a  thousand  faces  lighten  at  his 
coming,  and  had  quickened  to  new  courage  hearts  that 
were  failing  in  facing  hard  tasks. 


Photo  by} 


[  Basil  MatheiL's 


THE   CILICIAN   GATES 
Taurus  Mountains. 


"LONE  ON  THE  LAND"  249 

Now  he  had  to  face  the  battle  afresh  in  this  new 
City;  but  he  did  not  quail  or  tire. 

"  Yes,  without  cheer  of  mother  or  of  daughter, 
Yes,  without  stay  of  father  or  of  son; 
Lone  on  the  land  and  homeless  on  the  water, 
Pass  I  in  patience  till  the  work  is  done." 

His  pace  would  quicken,  and  as  he  entered  the 
great  Smyrna  gate  of  Ephesus  he  would  look  eagerly 
for  the  familiar  faces  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla. 


XXVI 

THE  DEFIANCE   OF  ARTEMIS 

PAUL,  when  he  had  passed  through  the  gateway 
in  those  great  walls,  four  miles  long,  which  sur- 
rounded Ephesus,  and  entered  the  busy  streets, 
would  hasten  to  the  house  where  his  old  Corinthian 
friends,  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  were  living.  After  tell- 
ing them  the  adventures  that  had  fallen  to  him  by  sea 
and  land  during  his  six  months'  journey,  he  would 
listen  to  all  the  story  of  the  work  in  Ephesus  in  his 
absence. 

"  There  came  to  us  from  Egypt,"  they  would  say, 
"  from  the  city  of  Alexandria,  a  Jew  named  Apollos. 
He  was  one  who  believed  all  that  John  the  Baptist 
preached  on  Jordan,  and  he  had  learned  about  Jesus 
and  His  message  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  he 
preached  here  in  Ephesus.  He  is  a  man  of  power 
and  of  deep  scholarship,  and  he  spoke  in  the  synagogue 
most  vehemently,  explaining  to  the  people  the  Way  of 
Jesus.  We  brought  him  here  to  our  house  and  ex- 
plained to  him  more  clearly  what  the  Way  of  God 
means." 

Alexandria,  on  the  north-east  coast  of  Africa,  was 
the  greatest  place  of  learning  for  the  more  liberal- 
minded  Jews  in  Paul's  day.  Paul  was  very  glad  to 
have  a  powerful  orator  with  an  educated  mind,  like 

Apollos,  to  help  in  the  work. 

250 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  25t 

"But  where  is  Apollos  now?"  he  would  ask. 

"  He  desired  to  go  over  to  Greece;  so  the  Brothers 
here  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Christians  in  Corinth  tell- 
ing them  to  welcome  Apollos  and  make  him  feel  at 
home  among  them.  So  he  has  sailed  across  there  and 
is  helping  them  splendidly.  He  is  publicly  contesting 
with  the  Jews  with  might  and  main,  showing  them 
from  our  scriptures  that  Jesus  is  truly  the  Messiah." 

Paul  immediately  set  to  work  to  follow  up  the  work 
that  Aquila  and  Apollos  had  done  in  Ephesus.  He 
went  straight  to  the  synagogue.  There  he  spoke  out 
fearlessly,  explaining  how  Jesus  had  come  to  bring 
in  the  Reign  of  God  in  the  world.  Many  of  the  men 
who  squatted  there,  fingering  their  beards  as  they 
listened  to  his  glowing  words,  and  many  of  the  women, 
who  sat  hidden  behind  the  screen  yet  were  all  ears  to 
these  startling  new  things,  believed  that  what  Paul 
said  was  true.  They  became  disciples  of  the 
Christian  Way.  But  others  disagreed  and  grew  more 
and  more  stubborn  in  their  views.  They  began  to 
raise  their  voices  in  argument  against  Paul  and  said 
everything  that  they  could  against  Paul's  teaching. 

Paul  made  an  agreement  to  hire  a  hall  named,  after 
its  past  or  present  owner,  Tyrannus.  So,  withdraw- 
ing his  disciples  from  the  synagogue,  he  used  to  teach 
them  and  all  who  cared  to  hear  in  the  school  of 
Tyrannus,  probably  during  the  afternoons.  The  busi- 
ness life  of  the  cities  of  the  East  ended  by  middle- 
day,  so  that  handicraftsmen  and  officials,  lawyers  or 
shopkeepers,  were  free  to  attend.  Timothy,  Titus, 
and  Priscilla  and  Aquila  would  also  be  there  listening 
and  taking  down  notes. 


252  STORM  AND  STRESS 

The  work  of  Paul  in  the  quiet  of  that  room  is  less 
thrilling  to  us  than  his  adventures  in  prison  at  Philippi 
or  before  Gallio  in  Corinth.  Yet  that  work  was  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  and  far-sighted  of  all  his  acts. 

As  Paul  sat  there  on  the  summer  afternoons  at 
Ephesus,  in  the  lecture-room  with  his  disciples  grouped 
round  him,  listening  and  taking  notes,  the  eyes  of  his 
mind  were  gazing  far  beyond  them.  He  saw  all  that 
province  of  Asia,  of  which  Ephesus  was  the  glittering 
and  splendid  capital,  like  the  palm  of  a  hand  of  which 
the  valley  in  which  Ephesus  lay  was  the  wrist  and  the 
rivers  were  the  fingers.  There  ran  the  fingers  of  the 
Lycus,  the  Meander,  the  Caistor,  the  Hermus,  and 
their  tributaries;  and  on  them  the  busy  trading  cities 
of  Laodicea,  Colossse,  Philadelphia,  Hierapolis, 
Smyrna,  Sardis  and  Thyatira,  covering  Asia,  the 
richest  province  in  the  Roman  Empire — which  it  was 
now  Paul's  daring  plan  to  capture  for  his  Lord. 

No  wonder  that  he  wrote  from  Ephesus  to  his 
friends  in  Corinth,  "  I  have  wide  opportunities  here 
for  active  service."  He  looked  over  that  province 
like  a  General  Ofiicer  Commanding,  planning  to  win 
it  for  his  King.  The  disciples  who  sat  with  him 
learning  were  the  officers  whom  Paul  was  training. 
He  planned  to  capture  that  fair  province  from  Tyran- 
nus'  lecture-room.    And  he  succeeded. 

Timothy,  Tychicus,  Epaphras,  and  other  men  went 
out  from  that  room  and  from  the  presence  of  Paul 
up  those  river  valleys,  aflame  with  enthusiasm  and 
strong  with  his  courage.  In  synagogue  and  market- 
place, in  all  those  cities,  they  declared  to  Jew  and 
Greek,  Roman  and  Asian,  scholar  and  merchant,  scribe 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  253 

and  soldier,  gymnast  and  gladiator  "  the  unsearchable 
riches "  of  Him  whom  Paul  had  brought  to  them. 
Thus  it  was,  doubtless,  that  the  Gospel  reached  Co- 
lossae  and  Laodicea  (Col,  ii.  i)  and  other  cities  in 
the  Roman  province  of  Asia,  where  the  churches  had 
not  seen  Paul's  face  even  to  the  time  when  he  wrote 
to  them  from  Rome  the  *'  open  letter "  we  know  as 
"  Ephesians."  ^  So  wonderfully  did  Paul's  splendid 
and  daring  strategy  succeed,  in  working  from  that 
room,  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  that  Luke  was  able 
to  write: — 

"  Paul  carried  on  his  discussions  and  teaching  every 
day  " — perhaps  from  eleven  to  four,  as  a  later  note 
added  to  some  local  copy  of  Acts  has  it — **  in  the 
lecture-room  of  Tyrannus.  This  went  on  for  two 
years,  so  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Asia  heard  the 
word  of  the  Lord." 

There  were  mysterious  people  among  those  whom 
Paul  taught,  magicians,  wonder-workers,  hypnotists. 
Some  had  rolls  of  parchment  and  papyrus  with  strange 
drawings  and  signs,  like  the  Bear,  the  Ram,  the 
Heavenly  Twins,  the  Goat.  They  would  ask  your 
birthday  and  work  out  the  star  under  which  you 
were  born  and  then  declare  whether  you  would  be 
shipwrecked  or  become  a  great  general.  They  would 
make  you  gaze  in  a  crystal  ball  to  see  things  hap- 
pening far  away.  They  would  make  an  image  in  wax 
in  the  shape  of  your  enemy  and  then  burn  it  or  stick 
pins  into  its  heart  as  a  magic  way  of  killing  him.    They 

'  See  Col.  ii.  i  and  iv.  i6. 


254  STORM  AND  STRESS 

would  mutter  spells  to  cast  out  demons  and  mix  magic 
potions  or  burn  charms  in  mystic  fires. 

There  were  more  of  these  magicians  in  Ephesus 
than  anywhere  in  the  world.  Some  were  cheats  and 
charlatans,  others  believed  sincerely  in  the  power  of 
their  charms.  All  as  they  came  under  the  higher  spell 
of  the  power  of  Christ,  under  Paul's  teaching,  would 
come  to  him  and  confess  to  him  the  magic  spells  that 
they  used  and  say  that  they  were  going  to  give  them 
up.  At  last  there  were  so  many  who  used  to  practise 
^magic  arts  and  had  now  decided  to  be  Christians, 
that  all  brought  together  the  parchment  rolls  on  which 
their  spells  and  star-readings  were  written.  Placing 
them  in  a  great  pile  they  set  them  in  a  blaze  and  made 
a  great  bonfire  of  them.  They  reckoned  up  that  day 
that  two  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  books  were 
burned. 

The  crowds  of  people  who  stood  around  with 
wondering  eyes  as  the  flames  leaped  up — even  those 
who  before  had  not  really  listened  to  Paul's  preach- 
ing— felt  awestruck  by  the  power  of  his  work. 

One  day  some  men  sailed  across  the  ^gean  from 
Cenchreae  and  landed  at  the  harbour  at  Ephesus. 
Coming  up  the  portway  into  the  city  they  inquired 
where  Paul  lived.  When  they  found  him,  he  was 
very  glad  to  see  them,  for  they  were  from  the  home 
of  Chloe  in  Corinth,  and  he  looked  forward  to  having 
news  of  how  his  beloved  people  there  were  doing. 

His  face,  however,  became  very  grave  and  a  little 
stern  when  he  heard  that  the  Christians  in  Corinth  had 
been  quarrelling  among  themselves,  and  had  also  fallen 
into  just  those  horrible  sins  of  unclean  living  that 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  255 

made  the  name  of  Corinth  a  byword  all  over  the  Ro- 
man Empire.  On  the  second  of  these  matters  he  had 
already  heard  from  Corinth  before,  and  had  replied 
at  once  in  a  letter  which  has  not  survived.^  Now  he 
sat  down  and  dictated  a  second  and  longer  letter  to 
them.  He  spoke  the  words,  and  they  were  written  on 
the  long  roll  of  parchment,  perhaps  by  Sosthenes  or 
Titus  or  even  Luke.  We  can  imagine  how,  when  these 
words  were  read  out  to  the  people  gathered  together 
at  Corinth,  their  faces  would  flush  with  shame  as 
he  upbraided  them  for  their  quarrelling  and  foul  living, 
and  then  glow  with  joy  as  he  showed  them  the  true 
ideal  for  their  lives. 

"  Brothers,"  he  wrote,  "  I  beg  of  you,  for  the  sake 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  drop  these  party-cries. 
There  must  be  no  cliques  among  you;  you  must  regain 
your  common  temper  and  attitude.  For  Chlce's  people 
inform  me  that  you  are  quarrelling.  By  '  quarrelling  ' 
I  mean  that  each  of  you  has  his  party-cry,  '  I  belong 
to  Paul,'  *  and  I  to  Apollos,'  '  and  I  to  Cephas 
(Peter),'  'and  I  to  Christ'  Has  Christ  been  par- 
celled out?  Was  it  Paul  who  was  crucified  for 
you? 

"  With  jealousy  and  quarrels  in  your  midst,  are  ye 
not  behaving  like  ordinary  men  ?  When  one  cries  '  I 
belong  to  Paul,'  and  another  '  I  belong  to  Apollos,' 
what  are  you  but  men  of  the  world  ?  Who  is  Apollos  ? 
Who  is  Paul  ?  They  are  simply  used  by  God  to  carry 
His  Gospel,  each  as  the  Lord  assigns  his  task. 

"  I  did  the  planting,  Apollos  did  the  watering,  but 

*  I  Cor.  V.  9. 


256  STORM  AND  STRESS 

it  was  God  who  made  the  seed  grow.  So  neither 
planter  nor  waterer  counts,  but  God  alone  Who  makes 
the  seed  grow.  We  work  together  in  God's  service; 
you  are  God's  crop  from  His  seed,  God's  house  being 
built  up.  .   .    . 

"  So  you  must  not  boast  about  men.  For  all  belongs 
to  you;  Paul,  Apollos,  Cephas,  the  world,  life,  death, 
the  present  and  the  future — all  belong  to  you;  and 
you  belong  to  Christ,  and  Christ  to  God." 

Then,  lest  they  should  say  that  it  was  all  very  well 
for  Paul  to  write  so  when  he  himself  was  at  his  ease, 
he  explains  to  them  that: 

"  To  this  very  hour  we  hunger  and  thirst,  we  are 
ill-clad  and  knocked  about,  we  are  waifs,  we  work 
hard  for  our  living;  when  reviled,  we  bless;  when 
persecuted,  we  put  up  with  it;  when  defamed,  we  try 
to  conciliate.  To  this  hour  we  are  treated  as  scum 
of  the  earth,  the  very  refuse  of  the  world ! " 

Even  apart  from  the  fresh  news  as  to  the  length 
to  which  party  strife  had  gone  in  the  Corinthian 
church,  Paul  was  intending  to  answer  its  own  ques- 
tions, partly  in  reply  to  his  recent  letter  and  partly  on 
other  points,  which  had  reached  him  by  special  messen- 
gers, possibly  bearing  them  in  writing  (see  xvi.  17  f.). 
The  messengers  may  have  included  Sosthenes,  a 
leader  of  the  church  at  Corinth,  whom  Paul  asso- 
ciates with  himself  as  agreeing  in  the  counsel  given 
in  his  letter.  He  goes,  then,  carefully  over  the  points 
they  had  raised,  mingling  profound  instruction  in 
Christian  principles  with  his  censures  on  their  short- 
comings.   Incidentally,  he  shows  them  in  one  sentence 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  257 

what  will  make  them  all  feel  one,  not  people  who  can 
be  divided  and  think  themselves  better  than  each  other. 
"  By  one  Spirit  we  have  all  been  baptized  unto  one 
Body — ^Jews  or  Greeks,  slaves  or  freemen;  we  have  all 
been  saturated  with  one  Spirit." 

Many  prided  themselves  on  their  special  "  spiritual 
gifts"  (charismata),  and  used  them  in  a  selfish,  ego- 
istic way.  Paul  corrected  this  by  the  idea  of  a  single 
body  with  its  many  different  members — the  eye,  the 
hand,  the  foot — all  working  for  the  common  good  of 
that  body  as  a  whole.  All  its  special  functions  are  due 
to  the  same  God,  Who  works  in  and  through  each  and 
all  its  members.  But  there  was  a  yet  simpler  and  more 
direct  way  of  appeal  for  self-forgetful  co-operation 
instead  of  pride  and  competition  for  glory.  Paul 
glowed  with  a  new  fire  as  he  broke  out  into  that 
wonderful  Praise  of  Love  which  men  will  read  and  re- 
read in  all  languages  till  speech  perishes  from  the 
earth. 

"  Yet  I  will  go  on  to  show  you  a  still  higher  path. 
I  may  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 

but  if  I  have  no  love, 
I  am  a  noisy  gong  or  a  clanging  cymbal; 
I  may  prophesy,  fathom  all  mysteries  and  secret  lore, 
I  may  have  such  faith  that  I  can  move  hills  from 

their  places,  but  if  I  have  no  love, 
I  count  for  nothing; 
I  may  distribute  all  I  possess  in  charity, 
I  may  give  up  my  body  to  be  burnt,  but  if  I  have 

no  love, 
I  make  nothing  of  it. 


258  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  Love  is  very  patient,  very  kind.  Love  knows 
no  jealousy;  love  makes  no  parade,  gives  itself  no 
airs,  is  never  rude,  never  selfish,  never  irritated,  never 
resentful;  love  is  never  glad  when  others  go  wrong, 
love  is  gladdened  by  goodness,  always  slow  to  ex- 
pose, always  eager  to  believe  the  best,  always  hopeful, 
always  patient.  .  .  .  Thus  faith  and  hope  and  love 
last  on,  these  three,  but  the  greatest  of  all  is  Love." 

How  the  very  being  of  those  men  and  women  at 
Corinth  must  have  tingled  as  the  bearer  of  this  letter 
read  out  these  words  straight  from  their  glorious 
author. 

So  Paul  came  toward  the  end  of  his  great  letter,  and 
sent  across  the  ^gean  Sea  from  Ephesus  to  Corinth 
his  ringing  challenge  and  command. 

"  Watch,  stand  firm  in  the  faith,  play  the  man,  be 
strong!    Let  all  you  do  be  done  in  love." 

Paul  bent  over  the  letter  and  with  his  own  hand 
penned  its  close.  Then  it  was  rolled  and  covered  with 
an  outer  case  to  protect  it  from  damage  in  travelling. 
The  messenger — possibly  his  trusted  Greek  friend 
Titus — would  thrust  it  into  his  tunic  and  go  down 
the  portway  to  the  harbour,  to  carry  across  the  water 
to  Corinth  words  that  will  be  read  till  the  end  of  time. 

In  that  letter  Paul  said  that  he  hoped  to  start  on  a 
journey  around  the  coasts  of  the  ^gean  Sea,  visiting 
Philippi,  and  Thessalonica  and  Beroea,  till  he  came 
to  them  in  Corinth  itself;  but  a  great  riot  occurred 
which  threw  all  his  plans  out  and  hastened  his  journey. 

It  came  about  thus.  Each  year  as  spring-time  was 
changing  to  full  summer,  on  a  certain  morning  in 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  259 

May/  the  streets  of  Ephesus  began  to  fill  with  crowds 
of  hoHday-making  country  people,  who  had  come 
down  on  foot  or  by  ass  or  camel  from  the  river 
valleys  of  Asia.  With  them  came  merchants  and  shop- 
keepers, officials  and  students,  from  the  cities  of  the 
Lycus  and  Meander  and  Caistor  valleys,  while  the 
ships  that  crept  into  the  port  brought  pilgrims  from 
all  along  the  coast  and  even  from  Greece  and  Mace- 
donia across  the  yEgean  Sea. 

The  whole  country  made  holiday  in  honour  of 
Artemis,  the  goddess  of  wild  Nature,  now  partly 
Asian  and  partly  Greek  in  character.  The  people 
crowded  to  see  the  chariots  race  round  the  stadium 
on  the  hill,  drawn  by  horses  frenzied  by  the  cracking 
whips  of  the  drivers  and  the  shouts  of  the  crowd. 
Wrestlers,  their  bodies  glistening  with  oil  in  the  blazing 
sun,  and  boxers  with  iron-studded  gloves  on  their 
knuckles,  strained  and  struggled.  Men  ran  the  foot 
races  for  the  prize  of  a  wreath.  Hungry  beasts — lions 
from  Africa  and  tigers  from  the  East — were  let  loose 
on  the  sanded  arena  of  the  stadium  to  fight  with 
gladiators  standing  with  their  short  swords  drawn. 
In  the  theatre  actors  played  comic  plays  of  Aristoph- 
anes before  the  hill  of  faces  that  surrounded  them, 
the  audience  which  crowded  the  seats  that  rose  tier 
above  tier  in  the  vast  auditorium. 

Paul  heard  the  blare  of  trumpets  and  the  clash  and 
boom  of  cymbal  and  drum,  and  saw  the  multitude 
press  out  toward  the  Magnesian  Gate  of  the  City. 
The  priests  and  priestesses  of  Artemis  came  in  pro- 
cession, with  some  slaves  playing  the  music  and  others 

*  May  25  was  the  date  of  the  festival  of  Artemis  of  Ephesus. 


260  STORM  AND  STRESS 

bearing  aloft  under  canopies  statues  of  the  great  god- 
dess. As  these  passed  by,  the  people  waved  their 
arms  and  gave  a  shout  that  surged  to  the  very  skies 
— "  Great  Artemis,  Great  Artemis  of  Ephesus." 

Through  the  streets  the  goddess  in  symbol  made 
her  triumphal  way  to  the  theatre,  where  play  was  made 
in  her  honour.  She  came  out  again  and  was  borne 
forward  on  the  shoulders  of  men  above  the  shouting 
crowds,  toward  the  gate  by  Mount  Coressus  and  back 
through  the  groves  of  green  trees,  above  which  could 
be  seen  the  broad,  ridged  roof  of  the  wonderful  temple 
built  for  her  worship. 

As  the  procession  drew  nearer  to  the  Artemision, 
the  people  saw  a  lovely  white  temple.  Its  wide  roof 
and  portico  rested  on  row  behind  row  of  marble  pil- 
lars, whose  carved  capitals  were  overlaid  with  gold  and 
whose  vast  size  was  made  graceful  and  light  by  their 
exquisite  proportions.  Climbing  the  marble  steps  that 
surrounded  and  raised  the  temple,  the  worshippers 
went  barefoot  out  of  the  blaze  of  the  sunshine,  through 
the  massive  carven  doors  of  cypress  wood,  into  the 
cool  dim  quiet  of  the  great  hall  of  the  temple  with  its 
many  statues.  Beyond  which  lay  the  inner  holy  place, 
with  its  roof  of  golden-cased  cedar  resting  on  priceless 
pillars  of  green  jasper,  its  carven  altar,  its  embroidered 
curtain  behind  which  was  concealed  the  goddess 
Artemis  herself,  who  had  fallen — ^they  said — from 
heaven.  She  was  never  shown  to  the  people — a  dark, 
roughly  carved  image,  with  no  beauty.  Out  in  the  city, 
however,  Paul  could  see  men  were  buying  little  graven 
or  terra-cotta  images  of  Artemis  in  her  shrine,  some 
to  take  back  to  their  homes  to  worship,  others  to 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  261 

present  as  a  votive  offering  at  the  Artemision,  the 
temple  itself. 

For  four  days  the  great  festival  of  Artemis  was 
celebrated  each  May-time;  and  then  the  crowds  melted 
away,  going  back  along  a  score  of  roads  and  across 
the  sea.  But  all  through  the  year  in  the  booths  in  the 
market-place  sat  men  who  were  moulding  and  carving 
and  hammering.  All  were  making  the  little  shrines 
(naoi)  of  Artemis  sitting  in  a  niche,  with  her  lions 
couched  by  her  side.  Here  the  sculptor  carved  the 
figures  in  pure  marble  from  Mount  Coressus.  By  his 
side  a  man  with  agile,  clever  fingers  moulded  them  in 
clay  that  was  put  into  the  furnace  and  baked.  Some 
of  the  finished  terra-cotta  shrines  stood  beside  him. 
In  the  silversmiths'  guild  men  sat  by  their  tiny  forges 
with  little  hammers  and  anvils  on  which  they  tapped 
the  grey  silver  and  moulded  it  to  beautiful  little  images 
of  Artemis,  Many  men  in  Ephesus  made  their  living  by 
these  handicrafts  and  sold  their  shrines  not  only  in 
Ephesus  and  on  the  feast  day,  but  all  up  the  Lycus, 
Caistor  and  Meander  valleys  at  places  like  Sardis, 
Philadelphia,  Pergamos  and  Thyatira,  Hierapolis, 
Laodicea  and  Colossse;  for  "all  Asia"  worshipped 
Artemis  of  Ephesus. 

A  leader  among  these  silversmiths  was  named 
Demetrius.  As  he  saw  Paul,  with  his  helpers  Aquila 
and  Timothy,  and  Erastus,  Gaius  and  Aristarchus 
and  others,  spreading  through  Asia  their  new  religion, 
which  said  that  hand-made  images  of  gods  had  no 
power  and  ought  not  to  be  worshipped,  Demetrius 
saw  that  his  income  from  the  shrines  would  fall  in 
proportion  as  Paul  succeeded.     He  did  not  stop  to 


262  STORM  AND  STRESS 

ask  himself  whether  what  Paul  said  was  or  was  not 
true.  He  only  saw  that  these  new  worshippers  of  the 
god  whom  they  called  Christ  were  growing  in  numbers 
and  in  power  all  over  the  city,  and  that  men  who 
had  in  the  old  days  bought  shrines  of  Artemis  now 
bought  them  no  longer. 

Swiftly,  one  winter  day,  he  drew  the  leading  crafts- 
men together  (the  silversmiths,  the  sculptors  in  wood 
and  marble  and  clay),  perhaps  in  the  guild  of  the 
silversmiths  where  he  was  a  leading  employer.  When 
they  were  met  together  he  stood  up  and  spoke. 

"  My  men,"  he  said,  "  you  know  this  trade  is  the 
source  of  our  wealth.  You  also  see  and  hear  that  not 
only  at  Ephesus,  but  almost  all  over  Asia,  this  fellow 
Paul  has  drawn  off  a  considerable  number  of  people 
by  his  persuasions. 

"He  declares  that  hand-made  gods  are  not  gods  at 
all.  Now  the  danger  is  not  only  that  we  shall  have 
our  trade  discredited,  but  that  the  temple  of  the 
great  goddess  Artemis  will  fall  into  contempt,  and 
that  she  will  be  degraded  from  her  majestic  glory, 
she  whom  all  Asia  and  the  wide-world  worship." 

Demetrius  by  thus  artfully  playing  both  on  their 
trade  interest  and  their  pride  in  Ephesus  as  the  centre 
for  Artemis  worship,  roused  the  meeting  to  fury 
against  Paul.  They  poured  out  into  the  street  shout- 
ing, in  their  passion  of  enthusiasm  for  Artemis  and 
rage  against  the  new  Way. 

*'  Great  Artemis  of  Ephesus,"  they  shouted  as  they 
crowded  into  the  street. 

The  people  leapt  from  their  shops  and  houses. 
Sailors  ran  up  the  portway  from  the  harbour;  smiths 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  263 

threw  down  their  tools;  boys  left  their  games,  to  find 
out  the  cause  of  the  uproar.  They  could  only  discover 
that  the  worship  of  their  goddess  was  threatened, 
so  they  all  joined  in  the  cry.  There  was  a  shout  of 
"  To  the  theatre."  The  dust  rose  in  the  air  above 
the  many-coloured  moving  mob  that  pushed  and  jostled 
and  yelled  its  way  to  the  theatre,  which  was  close  by 
the  market-place. 

As  the  leaders  headed  the  throng  they  caught  sight 
of  Gains  and  Aristarchus  of  Macedonia,  two  of  Paul's 
principal  helpers,  who  had  been  busy  spreading  the 
Faith  in  Asia. 

"  There  are  two  of  the  ringleaders,"  one  would 
cry;  "  away  with  them." 

They  rushed  at  Gains  and  Aristarchus  and,  drag- 
ging them  by  their  arms  and  pushing  them  along,  they 
surged  down  the  street  and  crowded  like  a  full-flowing 
tide  into  the  theatre,  clambering  up  the  marble  steps 
and  over  the  seats,  till  the  place  was  alive  with  faces 
of  all  nations — Romans,  Greeks,  Egyptians,  Cretans, 
men  of  Asia,  even  Jews. 

Paul  heard  the  uproar  and  found  that  his  friends 
Gains  and  Aristarchus  had  been  dragged  into  the 
theatre.  Immediately  he  started  to  go  to  the  theatre 
himself,  to  face  the  raging  mob,  regardless  of  the 
peril.  Some  of  his  disciples  at  once  came  round  Paul 
and  held  him  back.    We  can  imagine  their  argument. 

"  Do  not  go.  You  are  our  leader.  All  the  churches 
depend  upon  you,  and  you  must  keep  yourself  for  the 
sake  of  us  all.  Besides  that,  what  good  would  come 
if  you  went  in  among  those  raging  beasts?  The  sight 
of  you  would  only  sting  Demetrius  and  all  his  men  to 


264  STORM  AND  STRESS 

a  wilder  fury,  which  the  excitable  mob  of  an  Ionian 
coast  city  like  this  would  wreak  on  Aristarchus  and 
Gains,  as  well  as  on  you." 

As  Paul  was  hesitating,  messengers  came  running  to 
him  from  some  of  the  Asiarchs — the  great  officials 
who  were  the  High  Priests  for  all  Asia  of  the  worship 
of  the  divine  Majesty  of  Rome  itself,  in  the  persons 
of  Emperor  and  the  whole  line  of  Caesars.  These 
great  Roman-spirited  officers  were  friends  of  Paul 
and  did  not  wish  any  harm  to  come  to  him.  Knowing 
that  Paul  never  cared  for  his  own  safety  and  fear- 
ing that  he  would  rush  into  the  theatre  and  be  torn  to 
pieces,  they  sent  to  him  saying : 

"  Do  not  imperil  your  life  by  coming  into  the 
amphitheatre." 

Paul,  at  last,  reluctantly  gave  way.  In  the  theatre 
din  and  chaos  ruled.  Everyone  was  shouting:  some 
yelling  one  thing,  some  another.  The  majority  had  no 
idea  why  they  had  met. 

At  last  the  Jews,  fearing  that  the  mob  would  turn 
against  them  as  the  class  known  to  be  opposed  to  all 
carving  of  graven  images,  pushed  to  the  front  Alex- 
ander, a  leading  Jew.  He  stood  on  the  stage  beckon- 
ing with  his  hand  to  get  silence,  so  that  he  could  defend 
himself  against  the  cries  of  the  people.  For  a  few 
seconds  there  was  quietness.  Then  the  mob  discovered 
that  the  speaker  was  a  Jew,  and  a  roar  broke  from 
them  all,  so  that  not  a  word  that  he  said  could  be 
heard. 

"  Great  Artemis  of  Ephesus,"  they  shouted,  turn- 
ing a  prayer  into  a  rallying  cry :  "  Great  Artemis  of 
Ephesus." 


THE  DEFIANCE  OF  ARTEMIS  265 

For  two  hours  that  cry  echoed  from  the  theatre 
across  the  city  to  the  harbour.  At  last  when  they 
were  exhausted,  the  secretary  of  state  of  Ephesus — 
the  ruHng  official  who  was  in  close  touch  with  the  pro- 
consul from  Rome — stood  up,  and  at  last  got  com- 
plete silence. 

"  Men  of  Ephesus,"  he  began  with  a  touch  of  flat- 
tery that  secured  their  hearing,  "  who  on  earth  does 
not  know  that  the  city  of  Ephesus  is  warden  of  the 
temple  of  the  great  Artemis  and  of  the  statue  that 
fell  from  heaven?  All  that  is  beyond  question.  So 
you  should  keep  calm  and  do  nothing  reckless. 

"  Instead  of  that,"  he  continued,  pointing  to  Gains 
and  Aristarchus,  "  you  have  brought  these  men  here 
who  are  guilty  neither  of  sacrilege  nor  of  blasphemy 
against  our  goddess.  If  Demetrius  and  his  fellow- 
tradesmen  have  a  grievance  against  anybody,  let  both 
parties  state  their  case.  The  assizes  are  held,  and  there 
are  such  persons  as  proconsuls  to  give  judgment.  Any 
wider  claim  must  be  settled  by  the  legal  assembly  of 
the  citizens. 

"  Indeed,"  he  concluded,  "  there  is  a  danger  of  our 
being  charged  with  a  riot  over  to-day's  meeting. 
There  is  not  a  single  reason  that  we  can  give  for  this 
disorderly  gathering.     Now  go  your  ways." 

At  this  the  people  began  to  pour  out  from  the 
theatre,  arguing,  laughing,  angry  and  ashamed  by 
turns.  When  the  tumult  in  the  city  had  quieted  down, 
Paul  called  his  disciples  together  round  him.  In  the 
quietness  he  talked  with  them  about  the  work  that  lay 
before  them  in  Ephesus  and  other  cities  of  Asia.  He 
had  been  with  them  now  for  over  two  years,  speak- 


266  STORM  AND  STRESS 

ing  daily  in  the  philosophy  school  called  after  Tyran- 
nus,  writing  letters,  sending  his  helpers  out  into  the 
other  cities:  till  now  there  were  not  only  many 
churches  among  the  cities,  but  there  were  men  who 
could  lead  and  carry  forward  the  work  that  he  had 
opened  up. 

He  had  intended  to  stay  till  that  spring,  and  then 
to  sail  in  the  late  spring  at  Pentecost,^  going  round 
by  Philippi  and  Thessalonica  to  Corinth,  as  he  had 
promised  them  in  his  letter.  But  the  riot  made  his 
own  work  in  Ephesus  impossible  for  the  time.  Paul 
had  never  since  his  call  from  Tarsus  stayed  so  long 
in  one  place  as  Ephesus.  And  in  no  place  had  the  op- 
portunity been  so  wonderful.  But  he  felt  the  spirit 
of  the  pioneer  stirring  in  him,  the  thrill  that  stung 
him  on  to  run  the  full  course,  on  to  his  goal. 

It  was  "winter,^  with  the  mountains  and  hills  above 
Ephesus  etched  in  white  snow  against  the  dark  sky, 
and  away  to  the  west  the  pearly  sea  of  islands.  The 
Great  Sea  was  not  open  for  journeying;  but  venture- 
some sailors  could  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  storms  in 
short  voyages  from  port  to  port  up  the  coast. 

Paul,  therefore,  went  down  to  the  harbour  and 
took  passage  in  a  coasting-vessel.  She  was  rowed 
down  river;  then  the  sweeps  were  drawn  in,  and,  with 
sail  hoisted,  she  leapt  out  over  the  grey  waste  of 
waters  with  her  bows  northward. 

*  Our  Whitsuntide. 

'  Probably  January  56.    Paul  reached  Ephesus  October  53. 


XXVII 
THE    FOILED    PLOT 

4  S  the  ship  clove  her  way  northward  through  the 

/-%     wintry  waves  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  Paul's  own 

heart  was  grey  and  stormy.    The  riot  at  Ephe- 

sus  had  broken  his  work  for  the  time,  work  that  was 

more  to  him  than  life. 

As  he  looked  back  he  could  see  that  the  more  won- 
derful his  success  became,  the  hotter  was  the  fury 
against  him  of  those  who  stood  for  the  old  ways. 
Thrust  out  of  Pisidian  Antioch  and  Iconium,  stoned 
in  Lystra,  beaten  and  imprisoned  in  Philippi,  threat- 
ened with  death  in  Thessalonica,  scorned  at  Athens, 
dragged  before  the  proconsul  in  Corinth,  and  now 
howled  at  by  tens  of  thousands  of  Ephesians — Paul 
knew  that  he,  like  his  Master,  must  expect  death  if  he 
was  to  run  the  straight  race  in  defiance  of  all.  But  on 
this  Paul  the  dauntless  had  long  made  up  his  mind. 

"  I  am  ready,"  he  said,  "  to  be  slain  for  Christ's 
sake." 

He  had  shown  also  a  score  of  times,  in  face  of 
deadly  peril,  that  what  he  said  he  was  ready  to  do. 

The  ship  at  sunset  swung  round  the  jutting  head- 
land and  sailed  into  the  great  harbour  of  Troas.  The 
city  behind  looked  from  its  hillside  over  the  sea. 
Paul  again  saw  the  dawn  come  up  over  those  immortal 
mountains  which  had  looked  down  on  the  fights  of 

W 


268  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Achilles  and  Hector  and  all  the  heroes  of  the  Trojan 
wars. 

There  in  Troas  he  waited  for  a  time  with  some 
of  his  friends  who  lived  there.  He  had  thought  that 
there  he  might  meet  one  of  his  closest  comrades,  Titus, 
the  brave  Greek  who  was  on  the  way  back  from 
Corinth  with  the  reply  to  a  letter  (our  I  Corin- 
thians, or  another)  that  Paul  had  written  from 
Ephesus,  and  as  to  the  effect  of  which  he  was  in  great 
anxiety.  But  to  his  disappointment  Titus  had  not 
yet  returned. 

"  At  Troas,"  writes  Paul,  "  I  could  not  rest,  be- 
cause I  found  not  Titus  my  brother;  so  I  said  *  Good- 
bye '  and  went  off  to  Macedonia." 

Going  aboard  another  ship,  Paul  sailed  north-west 
across  the  narrow  seas  past  Samothrace  Island,  and 
once  more  made  the  harbour  of  Neapolis.  As  he 
looked  up  from  the  harbour  toward  the  city  of  Phi- 
lippi  on  the  heights  behind  the  Macedonian  coast,  he 
could  not  but  remember  the  strange  adventure  of 
the  rods,  the  prison,  and  the  earthquake.  We  do  not 
know  what  happened  on  this  occasion  when  he 
reached  Philippi;  we  only  know  that  winter  was  still 
in  his  heart. 

"  When  I  reached  Macedonia,"  he  confided  later 
to  his  friends  in  Corinth,  "  it  was  trouble  at  every 
turn,  wrangling  all  round  me,  fears  in  my  own  mind." 

Then  there  came  to  him  a  sight,  and  the  sound  of 
news,  that  wreathed  his  face  with  smiles  and  made 
his  heart  dance.  He  saw  a  figure  coming  toward  him, 
his  brave,  buoyant  comrade,  Titus,  with  glad  news 
from  Corinth,  that  the  people  there  had  received  his 


THE  FOILED  PLOT  269 

letter  in  a  good  spirit,  and  had  repented  of  their  quar- 
rels and  their  light  thoughts  about  deeds  of  lust. 

Titus  told  Paul  how  delighted  he  was  with  the 
Christians  at  Corinth,  how  they  had  received  him  with 
great  respect,  and  did  all  the  things  that  he  told  them. 
As  Paul  wrote  to  them  later  on  in  that  same  spring : 

"  I  am,  indeed,  proud  of  you.  You  are  a  perfect  com- 
fort to  me.  I  am  overflowing  with  delight  amid  all  the 
trouble  I  have  to  bear.  .  .  .  Titus  gave  me  such  a 
report  of  how  you  longed  for  me,  how  sorry  you  were, 
and  how  eagerly  you  took  my  part,  that  it  filled  me 
with  joy.  ...  I  told  Titus  of  my  pride  in  you, 
and  have  not  been  put  to  shame;  .  .  .  I  am  glad  to 
have  full  confidence  in  you." 

But  there  was  still  a  cloud  on  the  sky  which  needed 
clearing  away. 

Some  men  there  were  who  questioned  Paul's  author- 
ity to  write  to  them,  telling  them  how  to  behave  and  to 
live  as  Christians.  They  were  largely  egged  on  by 
certain  interloping  Judaizers  from  Judaea,  who  styled 
themselves  "  Apostles,"  and  denied  the  title  to  Paul. 
"Who  is  this  Paul  after  all?"  they  asked,  Paul 
put  forward  in  reply  a  claim  that  indeed  must  have 
made  those  "  very  eminent  apostles  "  (as  he  calls  them 
in  irony)  ^  wince,  when  they  came  to  ask  whether 
they  had  ever  done  anything  that  touched  the  dauntless 
courage  of  Paul.  He  asks  are  these  critics  of  his 
really  ministers  of  Christ,  and  replies : 

"  Yes,  but  not  as  much  as  I  am,  with  all  my  labours, 
with  all  my  lashes,  with  all  my  time  in  prison — a 
record  longer  far  than  theirs. 

*2  Cor.  xii.  II  R.  V.  margin,  cf.  xi.  13. 


270  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  I  have  been  often  at  the  point  of  death.  Five 
times  have  I  got  forty  lashes  (all  but  one)  from  the 
Jews,  Three  times  have  I  been  beaten  by  the  Romans, 
once  pelted  with  stones.  Three  times  shipwrecked, 
adrift  at  sea  for  a  whole  night  and  day. 

"  I  have  been  often  on  my  travels.  I  have  been 
in  danger  from  rivers  and  robbers;  in  danger  from 
Jews  and  Gentiles;  through  dangers  of  town  and 
desert;  through  dangers  on  the  sea,  through  dangers 
among  false  brothers;  through  labour  and  hardship; 
through  many  a  sleepless  night,  through  hunger  and 
thirst,  starving  many  a  time,  cold  and  ill-clad  and 
all  the  rest  of  it." 

Then  Paul  told  how  the  Brethren  at  Philippi  were 
getting  together  a  gift  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem, 
and  how  he  was  asking  Titus  to  return  with  this 
letter  to  Corinth  and  stir  them  up  to  do  the  same 
at  once;  for  he  wished  a  year  hence  to  go  on  to 
Jerusalem  with  delegates  from  Achaia,  Macedonia, 
Asia,  and  Galatia  bearing  the  gift.  This  was  what 
he  had  been  aiming  at  ever  since  he  had  left  Jerusalem, 
nearly  three  years  before. 

.  While  Titus  was  hurrying  back  to  Corinth,  Paul 
spent  the  whole  of  that  spring  and  summer  first  in 
Philippi,  then  going  along  the  Roman  road  to  Thes- 
salonica,  and  in  the  autumn  he  reached  Beroea.  He 
was  not  alone  now;  for  before  Titus  left,  his  own  loved 
Timothy  had  joined  him  in  time  to  share  in  the  letter 
Titus  was  to  carry  back.  Titus  probably  returned 
from  there  before  Paul  left  Ephesus. 

When  winter  came  on  Paul  went  southward  from 
Bercea,  and  sailing  up  the  Gulf  past  Piraeus  he  landed 


THE  FOILED  PLOT  271 

at  the  port  of  Cenchreae  and  once  more  walked  in  the 
busy  streets  of  Corinth. 

During  that  winter  spent  in  Corinth,  the  last  of  his 
mission  work  in  Greece,  Paul  wrote  the  greatest  of 
his  Epistles,  that  to  the  as  yet  unvisited  Church  in 
Rome.  Paul  was  proud  to  say,  "  I  am  a  Roman  citi- 
zen, free-born."  Young  Nero  was  on  the  throne  of 
the  Empire,  but  he  had  not  yet  shown  himself  to  be 
the  bloodthirsty,  boasting,  unnatural  monster  that 
he  later  became.  Paul  knew  that  it  was  the  wonderful 
Pax  Romana  that  gave  him  safe  passage  across  the 
seas  and  along  those  Roman  roads  which  linked  the 
whole  Empire  together  from  Damascus  to  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  and  from  Tarsus  even  to  London.  It  was 
more  and  more  burning  itself  in  on  Paul's  mind  that 
"All  roads  lead  to  Rome." 

"  I  must  see  Rome,"  he  said.  And,  what  is  more, 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  press  on,  beyond  Rome, 
even  into  Spain.  As  Paul  had  sat  through  those  morn- 
ings in  Corinth  and  Ephesus,  sewing  and  weaving  to 
earn  his  own  living,  Aquila,  at  work  alongside  him, 
would  talk  of  the  greatness  of  Rome  and  of  the  men 
and  women  there  who  had  already  gathered  together 
into  a  Christian  Church.  Some  of  them  were  friends 
of  Paul,  such  as  Epsenetus,  who  had  gone  to  Rome 
from  Asia.  There  were  in  the  Church  at  Rome  his 
"  kinsmen  "  in  the  flesh,  probably  fellow-Jews,  An- 
dronicus,  Junias,  and  Herodion;  and  young  men  Hke 
Rufus,  with  dear  old  women  like  Rufus'  mother — 
"  his  mother  and  mine,"  as  Paul  affectionately  calls 
her. 

Paul  wished  to  help  all  those  people  in  Rome  to 


272  STORM  AND  STRESS 

glory  in  the  greatness  of  their  Faith  and  to  forget, 
in  one  burning  flame  of  love  for  Jesus  Christ  and  for 
one  another,  everything  that  divided  them. 

Through  more  than  one  winter  day,  then,  when  even 
the  waters  of  the  narrow  Gulf  of  Corinth  were 
whipped  to  rage  by  the  gales  that  tore  down  from 
the  snow-covered  heights  to  the  North,  Paul,  in  the 
house  of  his  friend  Gaius,  dictated  to  young  Tertius 
a  long  letter  to  the  Romans.  Tertius'  reed-pen 
scratched  and  moved  on  the  parchment  as  Paul,  his 
eyes  glowing  with  concentrated  fire  of  brain  and  heart, 
spoke  high  and  deep  thoughts  that  make  this  letter 
not  easy  to  understand  when  we  first  read  it,  yet 
thoughts  that  have  made  a  difference  to  the  world 
ever  since.  And,  although  the  letter  was  so  lofty, 
Paul  took  up  many  lines  of  writing  at  the  end  sending 
his  greetings  to  his  friends,  each  one  by  name.  Prob- 
ably his  friend  Phcebe  of  Cenchrese  carried  this  letter 
to  Rome,  where  she  now  lived. 

At  last  the  long  winter  was  over.  The  anemones 
began  to  spring  through  the  brown  earth  and  the  swal- 
lows to  come  back  from  Egypt.  The  collection  that 
had  been  made  in  the  churches  all  around  the  ^gean 
Sea  and  up  on  the  plateaux  was  being  brought  to  one 
place,  so  that  Paul  and  his  friends  could  together 
carry  the  gift  to  Jerusalem.  Paul  had  arranged  to 
go  by  a  pilgrim-ship  to  Jerusalem,  picking  up  the 
others  on  the  way  so  that  they  might  arrive  in  time 
for  the  Feast. 

One  night,  however,  a  friend  came  to  Gaius's  house 
with  a  startling  rumour.  The  strict  Jews,  who  had 
never  forgiven  Paul  for  going  over  from  the  Phari- 


THE  FOILED  PLOT  273 

sees  to  the  side  of  Christ  and  who  saw  in  him  the 
great  enemy,  had  worked  out  a  plot  for  kilhng  him  on 
the  journey.  They  hoped,  perhaps,  on  the  Great  Sea 
to  have  him  stabbed  in  the  night  and  his  body  dropped 
overboard. 

Paul  never  flinched  from  danger;  but  death  at  that 
hour  would  ruin  all  his  scheme  for  taking  the  gift  to 
Jerusalem  and  going  on  thence  to  Rome.  Swiftly  he 
changed  his  plans.  He  arranged  with  his  friends  to 
meet  them  in  Troas  in  the  second  week  in  April,  en 
route  for  Jerusalem.  He  himself  took  journey  through 
northern  Greece.    His  enemies  were  foiled. 

Paul  celebrated  the  Passover  with  his  friend  Luke 
and  a  number  of  the  others  at  Philippi.  Then  they  got 
on  board  another  ship  at  the  port,  Neapolis,  in  the 
following  week.  The  winds  were  contrary,  for  it  took 
five  days  to  cross  from  Neapolis  to  Troas,  a  two  days' 
run.  There  they  met  their  friends  with  whom  they 
were  to  sail  for  Jerusalem.  The  whole  group  of 
friends  were  made  up  (in  addition  to  Paul  their 
leader  and  Luke)  of  Sopater,  the  son  of  Pyrrhus,  who 
had  travelled  from  Beroea,  and  his  Macedonian  friend 
Aristarchus,  representing  Thessalonica;  Gains  from 
Derbe  with  Timothy  of  Lystra,  representing  the 
churches  up  on  the  plateau  of  Galatia;  while  the 
province  of  Asia  sent  Tychicus  and  Trophimus. 

Paul  and  his  company  stayed  for  a  whole  week 
at  Troas.  Paul  having  been  prevented  from  reach- 
ing Jerusalem  for  the  Passover,  which  he  had  now 
celebrated  in  Philippi,  was  determined  to  reach  Jeru- 
salem for  Pentecost  (our  Whitsuntide).  Pente- 
cost fell  that  year  (57)  on  May  28;  and,  as  Passover 


274  STORM  AND  STRESS 

week  began  on  April  7,  it  was  April  19  when  Paul 
reached  Troas.  He  had  just  under  six  weeks  in 
which  to  cover  the  journey  down  the  ^gean  Sea, 
across  the  Great  Sea  to  Csesarea  and  on  foot  to 
[Jerusalem. 

He  found,  as  the  week  wore  on  at  Troas,  a  ship 
that  was  taking  a  coasting  journey  with  cargo  down 
the  coast  of  Asia  and  round  past  Rhodes  to  Patara, 
where  he  was  sure  to  find  a  ship  sailing  eastward. 
The  ship  would  not  run  into  the  Gulf  of  Ephesus,  but 
would  wait  for  some  days  at  Miletus  beyond  the  Gulf, 
to  discharge  and  take  up  cargo.  This  would  give  Paul 
an  opportunity  for  saying  farewell  to  his  close  friends 
of  Ephesus.  He,  therefore,  decided  to  go  aboard  that 
ship. 

Paul  with  his  friends,  on  the  last  day  of  their  stay 
in  Troas,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  April  25,  went 
together  to  a  large  house,  three  stories  high.  Going 
up  by  the  stone  stairs  outside  the  house  they  opened 
the  door  of  a  large  room  at  the  top  of  the  building 
where  they  could — undisturbed  and  uncrowded — hear 
the  great  leader,  the  fame  of  whose  work  and  ad- 
venture in  many  lands  and  on  the  waters  was  known 
to  them  all. 

The  evening  waned.  As  the  swift  darkness  came  on 
servants  brought  little  lamps,  and  soon  the  flickering 
lights  from  many  wicks  cast  soft  lights  and  shadows 
over  the  thoughtful  faces  of  those  who  listened  while 
Paul  spoke  to  them. 

The  stars  came  out.  The  night  wore  on.  It  was 
midnight.  And  still  Paul,  full  of  the  glory  and  won- 
der of  the  story  of  God's  power  and  love  and  holiness 


THE  FOILED  PLOT  275 

shown  in  Jesus  Christ,  spoke  on;  and  still  the  people 
— lost  to  all  thought  of  time — listened. 

A  lad,  Eutychus,  sat  on  the  window-sill,  gazing  long 
with  reverence  at  the  daring  pioneer  who  stood  there 
with  glowing  face  and  with  hands  gnarled  with  work, 
the  hero  of  a  hundred  adventures  in  travel.  But  now 
midnight  was  past.  Eutychus  was  very  tired.  He 
drowsed  and  nodded  and  then  fell  fast  asleep.  He 
drooped  perilously  in  the  window.  Suddenly  there 
was  the  sound  of  a  cry  and  sickening  thud.  Eutychus 
had  overbalanced;  and  had  fallen  headlong  from  the 
window  three  stories  high.  He  lay  on  the  ground 
in  the  dim  starlight,  horribly  still  and  white.  Paul 
and  Luke  rushed  down.  Luke,  the  physician,  looked 
for  breathing  or  heartbeat.  He  was  sure  that  the 
young  man  was  dead.  The  others  gathered  round, 
their  faces  and  voices  full  of  sorrow.  Paul  threw 
himself  down  and  held  the  body  close  to  the  warmth 
and  the  breathing  of  his  own  body. 

"  Do  not  lament,"  he  said,  "  the  life  is  still  in 
him." 

Paul  went  upstairs  again  to  the  room  where  the 
Christians  of  Troas  were  waiting.  Then,  long  before 
dawn,  he  broke  bread  and,  with  the  others,  ate  it, 
and  drank  from  the  cup  together  in  memory  of  their 
Lord.  Paul  had  already  two  years  before,  when  writ- 
ing from  Ephesus  to  the  people  at  Corinth,  said  what 
was  in  his  mind  when  he  taught  them  in  every  place  to 
join  in  this  sacred  meal. 

"  I  passed  on  to  you,"  he  wrote,  "  what  I  received 
as  from  the  Lord  Himself,  namely,  that  on  the  night 
He  was  betrayed  the  Lord  Jesus  took  a  loaf,  and  after 


276  STORM  AND  STRESS 

thanking  God  He  broke  it,  saying,  '  This  means  my 
body  broken  for  you;  do  this  in  memory  of  me.' 

"  In  the  same  way  He  took  the  cup  after  supper, 
saying : 

"  *  This  means  the  new  covenant  ratified  by  My 
blood;  as  often  as  you  drink  it,  do  it  in  memory  of 
Me.' 

"  For  as  often  as  you  eat  this  loaf  and  drink  this 
cup,  you  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  until  He  come." 

Paul,  when  they  had  broken  bread,  continued  his 
talk  with  his  friends  till  the  first  faint  light  of  dawn 
from  beyond  Mount  Ida  behind  Troas  dimmed  the 
light  of  the  lamps.  By  this  time  the  lad,  Eutychus, 
had  recovered  consciousness,  though  the  shock  still 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  walk.  But  his  friends 
were  greatly  relieved  to  be  able  to  carry  him  home 
alive. 

Meantime  Luke,  with  Aristarchus  and  the  others, 
had  gone  down  to  the  harbour,  and  had  before  dawn 
gone  aboard  the  ship,  which  was  obliged  to  make  an 
early  start  to  take  advantage  of  the  morning  breeze 
from  the  north.  When  the  morning  came  they  were 
already  out  on  the  sea  with  the  bows  of  their  ship 
rounding  the  cape  on  the  way  to  Assos.  So  Paul, 
just  as  he  was,  not  waiting  for  sleep  or  rest,  went 
out  on  the  road  in  the  dawning  light  with  resolute 
face,  to  join  the  ship  of  adventure  which  was  to  carry 
him  where  his  enemies  thronged. 


XXVIII 
"  ONE  WHO  MARCHED  BREAST  FORWARD  " 

PAUL  was  tired  with  his  strain  of  the  long  night's 
work  and  he  hurried  out  so  that  he  should  not 
miss  the  ship  at  Assos.^  If  we  may  guess  at  his 
reason  for  wishing  to  go  thither  by  land  rather  than 
by  sea,  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose  that  he  wanted  the 
solitude  of  a  long  walk  in  which  to  face  alone  with 
his  Master  all  the  peril  that,  he  knew,  lay  in  ambush 
for  him  in  Jerusalem. 

So  Paul  footed  it  ^  out  through  the  south  gate  of 
Troas  and  along  the  street  through  the  suburb.  He 
would  pass  the  beautiful  buildings  where  hot  springs 
of  healing  water  gushed  from  the  earth  into  the 
marble  baths,  to  which,  in  the  afternoon,  the  dandies 
of  the  city  would  lounge  and  the  slaves  would  carry 
the  Roman  ladies. 

Soon  Paul's  feet  were  on  the  open  paved  road. 
With  the  sun  rising  above  the  green  mountains  on 
his  left,  and  shining  upon  the  plain,  the  headland, 
and  the  gleaming  sea  on  his  right,  Paul  travelled 
swiftly  through  the  open  country.  He  had  gone 
twenty  miles  when  the  roofs  of  the  town  of  Assos 

'  Perhaps  it  was  on  this  visit  that  Paul  left  his  winter  cloak 
and  his  books  in  the  care  of  Carpus  (2  Tim.  iv.  13),  intending  to 
pick  them  up  on  his  way  back  to  Rome. 

'  The  literal  meaning  of  the  Greek  ire^iveiv. 

277 


278  STORM  AND  STRESS 

came  in  sight.  Going  straight  to  the  port  he  found, 
sure  enough,  that  his  friends  had  already  sailed  into 
harbour.  He  went  aboard  the  ship  and  by  dawn  of 
the  next  day  she  had  cast  off  from  the  quay  and  was 
threading  her  way  through  the  harbour  shipping. 
Rounding  the  end  of  the  stone  pier  she  ran  before  the 
breeze  all  day,  till  at  sundown  she  anchored  in  the 
port  of  Mitylene,  behind  the  island  of  Lesbos.  The 
harbour  faced  the  rising  sun,  looking  from  the  island 
across  the  narrow  waters  to  the  coast  of  Asia.  By 
the  time  the  light  of  morning  had  touched  the  hills 
of  Lesbos,  the  sail  was  unfurled  again,  and  the  ship 
swept  southward  past  the  mouth  of  the  gulf  and  by 
the  dark  mass  of  the  island  of  Chios,  which  lay 
couched  like  a  lion  guarding  the  gate  to  Smyrna. 

Paul  was  eager  to  go  forward  to  Jerusalem,  and 
his  spirit  may  have  chafed  at  the  need  to  stop  each 
night  at  ports  so  close  to  one  another.  Luke,  how- 
ever, a  Greek  living  near  the  shore  of  the  ^gean 
Sea,  loved  the  ship  and  the  sea,  and  revelled  in  her 
making  a  new  harbour  each  night,  for  he  tells  us  of 
each  one  as  they  reached  it. 

It  was  still  April,  the  early  summer  of  the  ^gean 
Sea.  The  ship  stopped  each  evening  because  the 
wind  in  the  ^Egean  at  that  time  of  year  generally 
blows  from  the  north  from  before  sunrise  through 
the  day — the  cool  air  from  the  mountains  rushing 
down  across  the  seas  to  fill  the  place  of  the  hot  air  that 
rises  from  the  African  desert.  The  breeze  from  the 
north  dies  away  as  the  afternoon  wears  on,  falling  to  a 
dead  calm  at  sunset,  after  which  a  wind  from  the 
south  blows  gently  through  the  night. 


«  ONE  WHO  MARCHED  "  279 

So  again  they  cast  anchor  in  the  afternoon  near 
Cape  Argennum  on  the  mainland  opposite  Chios.  In 
the  morning  they  were  away  before  dawn  across  the 
entrance  to  the  Gulf  of  Ephesus  and  swinging  under 
the  lee  of  Samos.  They  had  not  passed  Cape  Trogyl- 
lium  when  the  wind  fell  again  and  the  captain  anchored 
his  ship  there,  running  early  the  next  day  across  the 
gulf,  between  Samos  and  the  mainland.  The  next 
morning  they  stood  across  the  gulf  and  by  noon  the 
vessel  was  made  fast  alongside  one  of  the  wharves  of 
Miletus,  where  she  was  swiftly  boarded  by  the  porters 
who  started  to  unload  her  cargo,  keeping  up  a  sing- 
song chant  as  they  went  to  and  fro  with  jars  of  oil 
and  wine  and  loads  of  grain  and  hides. 

It  would  take  some  days  for  the  unloading  and  to 
ship  a  new  cargo.  One  of  Paul's  friends  therefore 
started  for  Ephesus  as  swiftly  as  sail  and  beast  could 
carry  him.  The  messenger,  taking  advantage  of  the 
southerly  breeze  of  the  late  afternoon,  the  imbat, 
could  land  at  Priene,  climb  the  hills  on  the  following 
morning  and  drop  again  to  the  coast-road,  reaching 
Ephesus  by  the  following  afternoon. 

No  sooner  did  the  friends  of  Ephesus  know  that 
their  great  companion  and  hero  was  at  Miletus  than 
they  were  all  agog  to  see  him,  and  swiftly  shod  and 
girded  themselves  for  the  journey  back  with  the 
messenger  to  see  Paul.  If  they  made  good  journeying 
they  would  reach  him  on  the  last  day  of  April,  and 
may  have  spent  May  i  with  him.  They  had  not  seen 
him  since  the  great  riot,  when  all  Ephesus  was  filled 
with  the  shouting,  "  Great  Artemis  of  Ephesus." 

In  a  room  they  gathered  round  Paul  waiting  to  hear 


280  STORM  AND  STRESS 

all  that  he  would  say,  but  most  of  all  to  see  the  loved 
face  of  the  man.  He  talked  to  them.  Luke  sat 
quietly  listening,  perhaps  writing  a  note  quickly  on  a 
roll  taken  from  his  tunic,  so  that  he  should  be  able 
to  tell  the  very  words  to  the  people  who  had  never 
seen  Paul. 

"  You  know  quite  well,"  Paul  said,  "  how  I  lived 
among  you  all  the  time  ever  since  I  set  foot  in  Asia, 
how  I  served  the  Lord  in  all  humility,  with  many  a 
tear  and  many  a  trial  which  I  encountered  owing  to 
the  plots  of  the  Jews." 

The  men  would  nod  their  heads  in  agreement. 
Then  Paul  continued. 

"  You  know  how  I  never  shrank  from  letting  you 
know  anything  for  your  good,  or  from  teaching  you 
alike  in  public  and  from  house  to  house,  bearing  my 
testimony,  both  to  Jews  and  Greeks,  of  repentance 
before  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Now  here  I  go  to  Jerusalem  under  the  binding 
force  of  the  Spirit.  What  will  befall  me  there  I  do 
not  know.  Only  I  know  this,  that  in  town  after  town 
the  Holy  Spirit  testifies  to  me  that  bonds  and  troubles 
await  me." 

Their  faces  would  be  sad  at  this,  but  would  glow 
with  admiring  hero-worship  as  they  heard  their  leader 
say  just  what  those  who  knew  his  fearless  spirit  would 
expect : 

"  But  then,  I  set  no  value  on  my  own  life  com- 
pared with  the  joy  of  finishing  my  course  and  carry- 
ing out  the  commission  I  received  from  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  attest  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

"  I  know,"  he  said  amid  a  hush  of  awe,  "  I  know 


"  ONE  WHO  MARCHED  »  281 

to-day  that  not  one  of  you  will  ever  see  my  face — 
not  one  of  you  among  whom  I  moved  as  I  preached 
the  Reign.  ...  I  know  that,  when  I  am  gone,  fierce 
wolves  will  get  in  among  you,  and  they  will  not  spare 
the  flock.  .  .  .  So  be  on  the  alert.  Remember  how 
for  three  whole  years  I  never  ceased  night  and  day 
to  watch  over  each  one  of  you  with  tears.  And  now 
I  entrust  you  to  God.  ...  He  is  able  to  build  you 
up.  .   .    ." 

Their  heads  would  nod  agreement  again  as  Paul 
went  on  to  say,  with  his  work-stained  hands  held  out, 
"  You  know  yourselves  how  these  hands  of  mine  pro- 
vided everything  for  my  own  needs  and  for  my  com- 
panions. Silver,  gold,  or  clothing  I  never  coveted.  I 
showed  you  how  this  was  the  way  to  work  hard  and 
care  for  the  poor,  remembering  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  Who  said,  *  To  give  is  happier  than  to 
get' " 

With  these  words  Paul  fell  on  his  knees  and 
poured  out  prayer.  As  he  ceased,  their  voices  broke 
out  in  lamenting.  They  fell  on  Paul's  neck  and  kissed 
him  fondly,  sorrowing  chiefly  because  he  told  them 
that  they  would  never  see  his  face  again. 

They  all  went  down  to  the  harbour  together.  At 
last  the  captain  of  the  ship  gave  the  order  to  hoist 
sail.  Paul  tore  himself  away  from  his  friends  who, 
grown  men  as  they  were,  could  hardly  see  him  through 
the  mist  of  their  tears  as  the  ship  gathered  way  and 
went  out  on  the  southward  trail. 

Away  to  starboard,  in  the  light  of  the  morning,  lay 
Patmos  screened  by  lesser  islands.  On  the  port  side 
the  coast  faded  away  into  a  deep  full  gulf  and  then 


282  STORM  AND  STRESS 

shot  out  again  in  a  wild  riot  of  rock.  The  breeze  drove 
the  ship  on  till  they  sighted  Cos  Island  to  the  starboard 
and  ran  in  under  her  lee,  before  the  wind  had  sunk  to 
a  calm  or  the  imbat  arisen  to  drive  her  back  in  her 
tracks. 

In  the  morning  they  were  away  before  the  gleam 
of  the  sun  had  flushed  to  life  the  white  columns  of  the 
temple  behind  the  little  harbour  of  Cos.  Tacking  east 
into  the  Gulf  of  Halicarnassus  they  swung  west  again 
round  the  southern  cape,  and  threaded  the  channel 
among  the  islands  till  the  great  island  Rhodes  loomed 
ahead  of  them,  her  rolling  hills  and  rich  valleys  covered 
with  the  spring  green  of  olive  trees  and  vines. 

Long  before  Paul  sailed  into  the  deep  safe  harbour 
of  Rhodes  the  mighty  brazen  Colossus,  which  had 
once  straddled  from  pier  to  pier  across  the  harbour, 
had  crashed  into  the  sea  under  the  shock  of  earth- 
quake. Yet  eye  and  ear  were  filled  with  the  sights 
and  sounds  of  Rhodes;  the  glorious  hills,  the  noble 
temples,  the  forest  of  masts,  the  cries  of  sailors  speak- 
ing every  tongue  from  Phoenicia  to  Spain,  the  ham- 
mering and  sawing  in  the  shipbuilding  yards,  the  flit- 
ting of  small  boats  across  the  harbour  among  the  ships. 
And  behind  all,  on  the  horizon  to  the  north-west,  lay 
the  Lycian  coast.  From  the  sea  the  hills  lifted  them- 
selves, rising  past  deep  mysterious  valleys  to  the  high 
mountain  ridge  of  the  Taurus  range,  that  caught  the 
sun's  first  rays  as  Paul's  ship,  next  day,  sailed  west- 
ward for  Patara,  the  end  of  the  ship's  voyage. 

As  the  vessel  made  fast  alongside  the  wharves  of 
Patara  harbour  in  the  afternoon,  Paul  saw  behind 
the  port  the  city  of  Xanthus  breasting  the  foot-hills 


«  ONE  WHO  MARCHED  "  283 

of  the  Taurus.  Paul  and  his  friends  had  to  change 
ships  here,  and  may  have  gone  up  into  the  city  through 
the  gates  into  the  colonnaded  chariot-way  flanked  by 
foot-walks  leading  up  to  the  theatre,  and  beyond  that 
to  the  Temple  of  Apollo,  the  sun-god.  But  none  of 
them  would  stay  long,  for  time  pressed  and  a  large 
ship  that  could  face  the  longer  voyage  across  the  Great 
Sea,  away  from  coast  and  the  ports,  lay  waiting  to 
sail  to  the  Phcenician  harbour  of  Tyre. 

Going  aboard,  they  took  passage  on  her,  and  next 
day  were  out  on  the  Great  Sea  running  south-east. 
Over  the  sea,  like  a  dim  cloud,  came  the  distant  coast 
of  Cyprus.  As  it  drew  nearer  Paul  would  be  able  to 
point  out  to  Luke,  as  they  stood  on  deck,  the  little 
harbour  of  Paphos,  away  over  the  port  bow.  Be- 
tween those  breakwaters  Barnabas  and  he  had  sailed 
into  these  same  seas  ten  years  before. 

The  next  afternoon  they  sighted  the  high  bluff  of 
Carmel  glittering  in  the  May  sunshine,  and  the  ship  put 
in  alongside  the  breakwater  which  made  a  wharf  for 
Tyre,  this  island-city  by  the  coast.  There  the  ship 
was  to  unload  her  cargo.  They  had  still  a  margin  of 
time  before  Pentecost,  so  they  went  up  the  narrow 
streets  of  Tyre  and  searched  for  the  Christian  disciples 
who  lived  there. 

For  a  whole  week  they  stayed  there,  while  Paul 
would  speak  with  them  in  the  cool  dimness  of  some 
room  away  from  the  glare  of  the  summer  sun  and 
the  bustle  and  dust  of  the  traffic. 

"  Do  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem,"  said  the  friends  at 
Tyre  to  Paul.  They  knew  the  peril  that  he  ran.  But 
he  had  set  his  face  toward  the  city,  with  his  friends 


284  STORM  AND  STRESS 

^ho — with  their  splendid  gift — were  the  living  evi- 
dence of  the  love  which  should  bind  all  Christian 
folk  together,  whether  they  were  Jews  or  Greeks  or 
barbarians. 

At  last  the  ship  was  ready,  the  time  was  up  and  they 
set  sail.  The  Christians  in  Tyre — women,  boys,  and 
girls,  and  all — came  down  the  streets  of  the  town 
to  the  beach.  The  porters,  the  sailors,  and  passing 
loungers  would  stare  as  this  group  of  men  and  women 
and  children  knelt  down,  and  one  with  a  strong  eager 
face  poured  out  words  of  prayer.  Then  they  said 
"  Good-bye  "  to  one  another,  and  Paul,  Luke,  Aris- 
tarchus,  and  the  others  went  aboard. 

By  noon  the  ship  had  covered  the  miles  between 
Tyre  and  Ptolemais  and  had  again  made  fast  at  the 
wharf  in  the  sandy  bay,  where  they  all  hurried  ashore 
to  greet  the  Brothers  there,  and  then  went  aboard 
again  for  the  last  hours  of  sailing.  Skirting  the  coast 
past  Carmel,  here  hilly,  there  a  confusion  of  sand- 
dunes,  fringing  the  lovely  plain  of  Sharon  where  the 
flowers  were  now  shrivelling  in  the  sun,  they  sighted 
the  brave  sickle-shaped  breakwater  that  made  the 
splendid  artificial  harbour  of  Csesarea — dominated  by 
the  square,  strong  Roman  citadel. 

Paul  had  passed  through  Csesarea  again  and  again, 
so  he  could  lead  his  friends  straight  to  the  house  of 
his  friend  Philip,  who  welcomed  them  all  gladly  to 
his  home.  There  they  listened  to  all  that  Philip  had 
to  tell  Paul  of  the  happenings  in  the  homeland;  how 
Felix,  the  Roman  governor,  had  paid  assassins  pri- 
vately to  slay  the  high  priest,  and  had  crucified  many 
rebels  on  Olivet;  how  the  Zealot  Jews,  with  a  burning 


"ONE  WHO  MARCHED"  285 

passion  for  the  Jewish  law  were  on  the  qui  vive,  and 
were  ready  to  stab  or  stone  any  Jew  who  violated 
the  holy  Temple  court  by  allowing  the  foot  of  a 
foreigner  to  tread  its  marble  pavements. 

"  They  plotted  to  kill  me  on  the  ship  from  Corinth," 
Paul  would  tell  Philip.  Then  Paul  would  remember 
again  that  those  Jews  who  were  aflame  with  the  lust  for 
his  blood  had  sailed  on  ahead  of  him  and  were  now 
in  Jerusalem  waiting  for  him.  In  their  minds  too 
the  old  words  which  had  once  beaten  like  hammers  in 
Paul's  own  Pharisee  brain  now  rang  like  a  command : 

"You  shall  not  consent  unto  him, 
Nor  listen  to  him ; 
Neither  shall  your  eye  pity  him. 
Neither  shall  you  spare, 
Neither  shall  you  conceal  him : 
But  you  shall  surely  kill  him  .   .   . 
You  shall  stone  him  with  stones  that  he  die." 

As  they  sat  talking  there  came  in  a  man  from  the 
hills  whose  eyes  glowed  with  the  look  of  one  who  saw 
strange  tragic  visions.  He  came  among  them,  and, 
going  up  to  Paul,  took  hold  of  the  girdle  of  his  mantle, 
and  loosened  it,  and  then  took  it  in  his  own  hands. 
Luke  and  Philip  and  Timothy  and  the  others  gazed 
at  this  man,  whose  name  was  Agabus,  wondering 
what  he  would  do. 

Agabus  stooped.  Then  twisting  the  girdle  round 
his  own  feet  and  fastening  it,  he  said,  as  he  stood 
erect  again: 

"  Here  is  the  word  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  *  So  shall 
the  Jews  bind  him  who  owns  this  girdle  at  Jerusalem, 
and  hand  him  over  to  the  Gentiles.'  " 


286  STORM  AND  STRESS 

Paul  was  not  startled.  He  had  himself  all  along 
in  this  journey  more  and  more  come  to  believe  that 
this  would  be.  But  it  brought  the  peril  home  swiftly 
and  with  agony  to  his  friends.  How  could  they  bear 
to  see  their  hero-leader  taken  like  a  criminal,  and 
perhaps  beheaded !  The  horror  of  it  gripped  them.  It 
filled  Timothy,  who  had  walked  those  hundreds  of 
leagues  by  Paul's  side  over  the  plateaux  and  the  moun- 
tains and  had  faced  death  with  him  on  sea  and  land; 
Luke,  who  would  willingly  have  died  for  Paul;  and 
the  others  who  owed  all  the  glory  and  joy  of  their 
being  to  the  new  Life  that  Paul  had  brought  to  them. 

"  Do  not,  do  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem !  "  they  cried, 
and,  men  as  they  were,  their  eyes  filled  with  tears. 
"Do  not  put  your  life  in  peril!     Stay  here." 

Paul  was  touched  to  the  quick.  He  could  for  a 
moment  hardly  control  his  own  heart.  Then  with 
firm  set  face  he  spoke  to  them. 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  he  asked,  *'  by  weeping  and 
unnerving  me?"  Then  followed  the  dauntless  words 
which  would  soon  be  put  to  the  uttermost  test. 

"  I  am  ready,"  he  said,  "  not  only  to  be  bound, 
but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 

Nothing  could  daunt  that  great  heart,  nor  could 
even  the  love  of  friends  turn  him  aside.  This  his 
friends  now  saw.  They  agreed  to  his  going  to  Jeru- 
salem at  whatever  cost. 

"The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done,"  they  said. 


XXIX 
"AWAY   WITH    HIM" 

THE  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs  on  the  flagged  street 
called  Paul  and  his  friends  out  at  dawn  for  the 
canter  across  the  rolling  plain  and  the  climb 
among  the  hills  of  Samaria  and  Judsea. 

Guided  by  some  of  the  friends  from  Caesarea,  they 
turned  their  faces  to  the  rising  sun  and  rode  along  the 
chariot-way,  passing  the  inns  from  whose  courtyards 
the  grumbling  camels  were  striding  out,  and  skirting 
the  empty  stadium,  till  the  short  tunnel  of  the  gate- 
way in  the  city  wall  led  them  out  to  the  freshness 
of  the  open  country.  Through  the  day  they  travelled, 
climbing  the  hills,  resting  in  the  blazing  summer  noon- 
day; and  at  sundown  they  came  to  the  home  of  an  old 
man  who  with  glowing  face  welcomed  the  great  leader 
Paul,  with  his  friends,  to  his  house.  The  old  man's 
name  was  Mnason.  He  had  been  a  disciple  of  Christ 
for  long  years,  and,  like  Barnabas,  he  was  a  native 
of  Cyprus. 

Next  morning  they  said  farewell  to  Mnason  and 
breasted  the  hills  again,  till  at  last,  as  the  shadows 
began  to  fall  across  the  brook  Kidron,  they  came  out 
under  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  Paul  found  himself 
again  in  the  city  where  he  had  dreamed  dreams  as  a 
student.     He  forgot  even  the  enemies  who  plotted 

287 


288  STORM  AND  STRESS 

against  his  life,  when  he  saw  the  faces  of  the  Brothers 
in  Jerusalem  light  with  joy  as  he  came  among  them. 
He  would  be  glad,  too,  to  see  his  nephew,  the  son  of 
his  sister,  who  lived  in  Jerusalem. 

Going  along  the  familiar  streets  on  the  following 
morning,  Paul  saw  the  Harvest  Thanksgiving  prep- 
arations, the  little  sheaves  of  corn,  the  huts  of  branches 
on  the  roof-tops  recalling  the  old,  old  days  when  the 
Jews,  wandering  across  the  desert  from  Egypt,  had 
neither  harvest  nor  house.  He  entered  the  doorway  of 
a  house  where  in  a  large  room  the  elders  of  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem  had  already  come  together,  with 
the  Lord's  brother,  James,  presiding.  Paul  courte- 
ously saluted  them.  Then  he  began  to  tell  much 
of  the  story  that  we  have  read  in  this  book. 
Imagine  the  glory  of  hearing  it  at  first  hand  from 
the  man  to  whom  these  adventures  had  really 
come! 

Quiet,  conventional,  stay-at-home  men  as  they  were, 
the  elders  were  transported  to  a  new  world  as  they 
leaned  forward  with  parted  lips,  chin  on  hand,  listen- 
ing to  this  flaming  torch  of  a  man,  Paul,  who  had 
sped  over  sea  and  plain,  through  mountain  pass  and 
robber- valley;  beaten  and  stoned  and  starved,  slaving 
with  his  hands  before  dawn  and  declaring  his  glorious 
message  till  after  midnight;  singing  in  prison,  rejoic- 
ing at  the  hard  knocks  of  the  world,  the  quickener  of 
life  in  a  score  of  cities  and  across  half  the  known 
world; — the  untiring  Jewish  traveller,  the  free,  brave 
Roman  citizen,  the  blazing  Greek  orator,  the  glad 
slave  of  Christ. 

Then   Timothy   of   Lystra   and    Gains    of    Derbe 


"AWAY  WITH  HIM"  289 

came  forward  with  their  gift  from  the  Churches  upon 
the  plateau  of  Galatia;  Tychicus  and  Trophimus  of 
Ephesus  with  the  gift  from  Asia;  and  Aristarchus 
and  Secundus  from  Macedonia,  with  Sopater  of 
Beroea,  handed  in  their  offering. 

As  Paul  ceased  speaking  and  the  gifts  were  offered, 
the  elders  broke  out  into  thanks. 

"  Glory  be  to  God,"  they  cried,  "  for  these  wonder- 
ful works  through  his  servant  Paul." 

Then  the  glow  of  the  wide  vision  faded,  and  Jeru- 
salem was  about  them  again  and  the  Church  in  Jeru- 
salem, still  in  many  of  its  members  trying  to  cramp 
Christ  within  the  iron  hoop  of  a  single  nation's 
destiny. 

"  Brother,"  they  said  to  him,  "  you  see  how  many 
thousands  of  believers  there  are  among  the  Jews,  all 
of  them  ardent  upholders  of  the  Law.  Now  they  have 
heard  that  you  teach  all  Jews  who  live  among  the 
Nations  to  break  away  from  Moses  and  not  to 
circumcise  their  children,  nor  to  follow  the  old 
customs. 

*'  What  is  to  be  done  ?  "  they  went  on.  "  They 
will  be  sure  to  hear  you  have  arrived.  So  do  as 
we  tell  you.  We  have  four  men  here  under  a  vow; 
associate  yourself  with  them.  Purify  yourself  with 
them.  Pay  their  expenses,  so  that  they  may  be  free 
to  have  their  heads  shaved." 

These  men  had  taken  the  Nazarite  vow  that  they 
would  not  shave  their  heads  till  they  had  performed 
certain  acts  and  purified  themselves. 

"  If  you  do  that,"  said  the  elders  to  Paul, 
"  everybody   will   understand   that   there   is   nothing 


290  STORM  AND  STRESS 

in  these  stories  about  you,  but  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, you  are  yourself  guided  by  reverence  for  the 
Law. 

"  As  for  these  behevers  among  the  Nations,  we 
have  already  sent  out  through  you,  in  the  letter  signed 
by  James, ^  our  decision  that  they  must  avoid  food 
that  has  been  offered  on  altars  to  idols,  the  taste  of 
blood,  flesh  of  animals  that  have  been  strangled,  and 
unclean  vice." 

Paul  knew  that  the  forms  of  ceremony  in  the  Temple 
were  not  the  heart  of  worship  of  God.  They  were 
the  ceremonies  of  one  people.  Yet,  with  that  all- 
embracing  sweep  of  his  passion  for  winning  men,  Paul 
consented  to  do  as  the  Elders  suggested. 

On  the  very  next  day  he  began  to  carry  out  the 
act  of.  purification  for  himself  along  with  the  four 
men.  Paul  went  into  the  Temple  courts  with  the 
men. 

"  I  wish  to  join  these  men,"  he  said,  "  and  to  pay 
their  charges,  till  the  vow  is  accomplished  and  till  they 
can  be  freed  from  it." 

Day  after  day,  and  at  Paul's  expense,  they  each 
offered  gifts  of  money  and  oil,  a  ram,  a  lamb,  and 
cakes.  On  the  seventh  day  they  would  have  fulfilled 
all  the  ceremonies.  But  that  seventh  day  never  came 
for  Paul. 

With  crafty  eyes  his  enemies  watched  him.  They 
had  seen  him  walking  in  the  streets  with  Trophimus 
from  Ephesus — to  them  a  "  sinner  of  the  Gentiles," 
a  man  without  the  law.     They  saw  Paul  go  up  the 

^  See  chapter  xvi. 


"  AWAY  WITH  HIM  "  291 

steps  to  the   marble  parapet  where   the  great  stone 
stood  which  said : 


LET  NO  FOREIGNER  ENTER  WITHIN 
THE  SCREEN  AND  ENCLOSURE  SUR- 
ROUNDING THE  SANCTUARY.  WHOSO- 
EVER IS  TAKEN  SO  DOING  WILL  HIM- 
SELF BE  THE  CAUSE  THAT  DEATH 
OVERTAKETH  HIM. 


Paul  crossed  the  line  and  went  through  the  open- 
ing. His  bare  feet  were  upon  the  marble  of  the  holy 
court.  The  hour  had  come.  The  Jews  from  Asia 
were  there,  possibly  some  of  those  who  had  plotted 
his  death  two  months  earlier,  when  Paul  was  starting 
to  sail  from  Corinth,  and  had  been  baulked.  They 
would  not  be  foiled  again.  They  dashed  at  him, 
gripped  his  mantle  and  raised  a  cry  that  thrilled  the 
heart  of  Pharisee  and  Zealot  alike. 

"To  the  rescue,  Men  of  Israel!  Help!  Help! 
Here  is  the  man  who  teaches  everyone  everywhere 
against  the  Chosen  People,  against  the  Law  of  Moses, 
against  this  Holy  Place.     Help !    Help !  " 

To  every  quarter  of  the  Temple  the  cry  rang  out. 
Men  dashed  in  from  all  sides  to  join  in  the  defence. 
The  cry  rang  across  the  roofs  to  the  Roman  Castle 
by  the  Temple,  where  the  sentinel  stood  like  a  statue 
on  the  turret  of  Antony's  tower. 

"  He  has  brought  Greeks  inside  the  temple  and  de- 


292  STORM  AND  STRESS 

filed  this  holy  Place,"  cried  the  Jews  from  Asia.  "  To 
the  rescue,  Men  of  Israel.     Help ! " 

Up  the  streets  of  the  city  the  cry  ran  like  wild- 
fire. The  Jews  dashed  into  the  Temple.  But  they 
would  not  defile  the  sacred  place  by  killing  him 
there. 

"  Out  of  the  Temple  with  him ! "  came  the  cry. 
Dragging,  pushing,  shouting,  waving,  the  whole  mob 
surged  toward  the  gates  and  into  the  open  place  with- 
out. The  gates  of  the  Temple  enclosure  swung  to  with 
a  clang  and  were  bolted. 

"  Kill  him !  Kill  him,"  cried  the  fanatics,  some  of 
them  the  men  who  had  cried  before  Pilate,  as  Jesus 
Christ  stood  on  trial  thirty  years  earlier,  "  Crucify 
him!  Crucify  him!"  and  had  yelled,  "Stone  him! 
Stone  him ! "  in  the  hour  of  Stephen's  death.  They 
lifted  their  sticks  and  began  to  beat  him  furiously  over 
the  head  and  shoulders  and  back. 

But  the  sentinel  on  Antony's  tower  had  already 
taken  action.  He  sent  down  word  to  the  commander 
of  the  garrison  regiment,  who  rapped  out  an  order, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  with  officers  and  men  was 
hurrying  to  the  spot.  Dashing  aside  the  mob  the 
company  marched  to  the  centre.  The  cry,  "  The 
soldiers  are  coming !  "  was  raised.  The  staves  were 
dropped  and  silence  fell. 

"Who  is  he?"  asked  the  commander,  Lysias. 
"What  has  he  done?" 

Some  of  the  crowd  roared  one  thing,  some  another. 
He  could  not  learn  the  facts  for  the  uproar. 

"  Chain  him,"  ordered  Lysias.  Two  chains  were 
clasped  on  his  wrists.    At  that  moment  Paul  left  the 


«  AWAY  WITH  HIM  "  293 

world  of  freedom.  He  never  moved  for  years  to  come 
without  the  sound  of  the  clank  of  his  fetters  in  his 
ear. 

"  Lead  him  to  the  citadel,"  ordered  Lysias.  Along 
the  front  of  the  Temple  and  out  under  the  shadow  of 
the  Roman  tower  they  moved;  the  Jewish  mob  raging 
and  yelling  behind  and  around.  They  thronged  upon 
Paul,  clutching  at  his  robe  till  the  soldiers  had  actually 
to  carry  him. 

"  Away  with  him !  Away  with  the  fellow  from  the 
earth !    Away  with  him !  " 

At  last  the  soldiers  reached  the  steps  of  the  citadel. 
They  were  about  to  lead  Paul  to  the  cells  in  the  bar- 
racks when  he  turned  to  the  commander. 

"May  I  say  a  word  to  you?"  he  asked  Lysias, 
speaking  in  Greek. 

"  You  know  Greek ! "  said  the  astonished  com- 
mander. "  Then  you  are  not  the  Egyptian  who  in 
days  gone  by  raised  the  four  thousand  Assassins  and 
led  them  out  into  the  desert  ?  " 

"  I  am  a  Jew,"  said  Paul  with  quiet  dignity,  "  a 
native  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  a  citizen  of  no  mean 
city.    Pray  let  me  speak  to  the  people." 

Paul,  bound  as  he  was  and  bruised,  stood  forward 
on  the  top  of  the  steps  before  the  mob  and  began  to 
speak  to  them  in  Hebrew — their  own  tongue.  Some- 
thing in  the  presence  of  that  undaunted  figure,  and  in 
the  sound  of  that  vibrant  voice  which  had  won  the 
hearing  of  men  in  many  lands,  swept  over  that  seeth- 
ing mob.  A  deep  hush  came  on  them,  like  the  whisper 
and  the  silence  that  come  over  a  field  of  corn  as  it 
sways  to  the  breeze  and  then  is  still, 


294  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  Brothers  and  fathers,"  he  said,  "  listen  to  the 
defence  I  now  make  before  you." 

When  they  heard  him  speaking  in  Hebrew  they  were 
all  the  more  quiet.     So  he  went  on. 

"  I  am  a  Jew,  born  in  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  but  brought 
up  in  this  city,  educated  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel  in  all 
the  strictness  of  our  ancestral  Law,  ardent  for  God  as 
you  all  are  to-day.  I  persecuted  this  Way  of  religion 
to  the  death,  chaining  and  imprisoning  both  men  and 
women,  as  the  high  priest  and  all  the  council  of  elders 
can  testify.  It  was  from  them  that  I  got  letters  to 
the  brotherhood  at  Damascus,  and  then  journeyed 
thither  to  bind  those  who  had  gathered  there  and 
bring  them  back  to  Jerusalem  for  punishment. 

"  Now,  as  I  neared  Damascus  on  my  journey,  sud- 
denly about  noon  a  brilliant  light  from  heaven  flashed 
round  me.  I  dropped  to  the  earth  and  heard  a  voice 
saying  to  me,  '  Saul,  Saul,  why  do  you  persecute 
Me?' 

"  '  Who  are  you  ?  '  I  asked. 

"  He  said  to  me,  '  I  am  Jesus  the  Nazarene,  whom 
you  are  persecuting.' 

"  I  said,  '  What  shall  I  do.  Lord?  ' 

"  And  the  Lord  said  to  me,  '  Rise  up  and  go  into 
Damascus;  there  you  shall  be  told  about  all  that  you 
are  destined  to  do.' 

"  As  I  could  not  see  ov.^ing  to  the  dazzling  glare  of 
that  light,  my  companions  took  my  hand,  and  so  I 
reached  Damascus.  Then  a  certain  Ananias,  a  devout 
man  in  the  Law,  who  had  a  good  reputation  among 
all  the  Jews  there,  came  to  me  and  standing  beside  me 
said,  *  Saul,  my  brother,  regain  your  sight ! '  " 


"  AWAY  WITH  HIM  "  295 

The  crowd  of  Jews  with  upHfted  faces  listened  in 
silence  to  the  wonderful  story.    Paul  went  on. 

"  The  same  moment  I  regained  my  sight  and  looked 
up  at  Ananias,  Then  he  said,  '  The  God  of  our 
fathers  has  appointed  you  to  know  His  will,  to  see  the 
Just  One,  and  to  hear  Him  speak  with  His  own  lips. 
For  you  are  to  be  a  witness  for  Him  before  all  men, 
a  witness  of  what  you  have  seen  and  heard.  And  now, 
why  do  you  wait?  Get  up  and  be  baptized  and  wash 
away  your  sins,  calling  on  His  name.' 

"  When  I  returned  to  Jerusalem,  it  happened  that 
while  I  was  praying  in  the  Temple  I  fell  into  a  trance 
and  saw  Him  saying  to  me,  '  Make  haste !  Leave 
Jerusalem  quickly,  for  they  will  not  accept  your  evi- 
dence about  Me.' 

"  '  But,  Lord,'  I  said,  '  they  surely  know  that  it 
was  I  who  imprisoned  and  flogged  those  who  believed 
in  You  throughout  the  synagogues,  and  that  I  stood 
and  approved  when  the  blood  of  your  martyr  Stephen 
was  being  shed,  taking  charge  of  the  clothes  of  his 
murderers!'  But  He  said  to  me,  'Go;  I  will  send 
you  afar  to  the  Nations  ' " 

At  that  word  the  silence  broke  into  a  thunder  of 
rage.  That  was  the  root  of  all  Paul's  offence,  that 
he  had  gone  with  his  Message  to  the  Nations  beyond. 
And  now  he  dared  to  blaspheme  by  saying  that  God 
— the  God  whose  Chosen  People  the  Jews  were — had 
told  him  to  do  so,  and  had  told  him  in  the  holy 
Temple. 

"  Away  with  such  a  creature  from  the  earth!  "  they 
yelled.     "  He  is  not  fit  to  live." 

They  tore  off  their  clothes  in  a  frenzy  of  angry 


296  STORM  AND  STRESS 

grief,  and  like  mourners  grabbed  the  dust  of  the  road- 
way and  flung  it  into  the  air. 

Lysias  was  mystified.  What  made  the  Jews  foam 
with  such  hysterical  rage  ?  They  were  too  wild  to  tell 
him  intelligibly.     Paul  must. 

"  Take  him  into  the  barracks,"  said  Lysias  to  his 
officers.     "  Examine  him  under  the  lash  and  report." 

They  saluted  and  marched  Paul  away.  They  took 
him  to  the  thrashing-post  and  strapped  him  to  it,  so 
that  he  might  not  struggle.  When  he  was  thrashed 
and  his  spirit  cowed,  they  would  make  him  confess  his 
crimes. 

Paul  spoke  to  the  officer  who  was  standing  by  giving 
orders. 

"  Are  you,  allowed  to  scourge  a  Roman  citizen,"  he 
asked,  **  and  to  scourge  him  without  trial  ?  " 

The  officer  was  aghast.  Lysias,  he  knew,  would  be 
degraded  from  his  rank,  and  severely  punished  if  he 
beat  a  Roman  citizen  and  word  of  it  reached  Rome. 
It  was  bad  enough  even  to  have  bound  him.  He 
hurried  to  Lysias  and  said  to  him: 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  This  man  is  a  Roman 
citizen." 

Lysias  rose  at  once  and  went  out  to  where  Paul 
stood  strapped  to  the  post. 

"Tell  me,"  he  said,  "are  you  a  Roman  citizen?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Paul. 

"  I  had  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money  to  buy  my 
citizenship,"  said  the  wondering  commander. 

"  But  I  was  born  a  citizen,"  replied  Paul  with  pride. 

He  was  loosed  from  his  bonds  at  once,  and  led 
away.     In  that  hour  the  three  threads  of  Paul's  life, 


«  AWAY  WITH  HIM  »  297 

the  Jewish,  Greek,  and  Roman,  had  all  stood  him 
in  good  stead :  the  Greek  when  he  spoke  to  Lysias,  the 
Jewish  when  he  quelled  the  uproar,  the  Roman  when 
he  was  bound.  Paul  lay  down  to  sleep  that  night, 
a  prisoner,  yet  freer  than  all  the  hide-bound  fanatics 
who  had  tried  to  take  his  life. 

But  Lysias  was  still  puzzled  as  to  what  Paul  had 
done  to  infuriate  the  Jews.  The  next  morning,  there- 
fore, he  sent  an  order  down  to  the  Temple  that  the 
high  priests  and  the  Sanhedrin — the  highest  authority 
in  the  Jewish  world — should  come  and  meet  with 
Paul.  Lysias,  when  the  Sanhedrin  had  come  together, 
brought  Paul  down  and  placed  him  in  front  of  them. 
Paul  looked  at  them  with  a  steady  gaze,  entirely  fear- 
less of  their  anger. 

"  Brothers,"  he  said,  "  I  have  lived  with  a  perfectly 
good  conscience  before  God  down  to  this  present 
day." 

It  was  too  much.  Ananias,  the  high  priest,  purple 
with  rage,  shouted  to  those  near  Paul : 

"Smite  him!"  he  cried.  "Strike  him  on  the 
mouth." 

Paul  lost  his  temper,  and  swinging  round  toward 
the  white-robed  Ananias  he  burst  out : 

"You  white-washed  wall,  God  will  strike  you! 
You  sit  there  to  judge  me  by  the  Law,  do  you  ?  And 
you  break  the  Law  by  ordering  me  to  be  struck !  " 

"  What,"  said  some  of  the  bystanders  to  Paul, 
"  would  you  rail  at  God's  high  priest  ?  " 

"  Brothers,"  said  Paul,  "  I  did  not  know  that  he  was 
high  priest." 

At  this  point  Paul,  realizing  that  the  Sanhedrin  was 


298  STORM  AND  STRESS 

made  up  as  to  one-half  of  Sadducees  who  did  not  be- 
lieve in  the  resurrection  of  man,  and  as  to  the  other 
of  Pharisees  who  did  believe  in  the  resurrection, 
shouted  to  them, 

"  I  am  a  Pharisee,  brothers,  the  son  of  Pharisees ! 
It  is  for  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  that 
I  am  on  trial ! " 

At  once  a  quarrel  broke  out.  Lysias  could  make 
no  sense  of  all  this  wrangling  and  clamour; — the 
Sadducees  urging  Paul's  death,  the  Pharisees  forget- 
ting in  their  defence  of  their  own  teaching  their  hatred 
of  Paul,  Scribes  of  the  Pharisees  rose  up,  and  the 
court  listened. 

"  We  find  nothing  wrong  about  this  man,"  said  the 
Pharisaic  scribes.  "  What  if  some  spirit  or  angel 
has  spoken  to  him?  " 

The  uproar  redoubled;  the  Sadducees  stood  and 
shouted  and  pressed  toward  Paul  as  though  to  tear 
him  to  pieces.  Lysias  ordered  the  troops  to  be  brought 
from  the  citadel  and  they  formed  a  bodyguard  to 
protect  Paul.  The  soldiers  took  him,  driving  the 
maddened  Jews  back,  and  led  him  into  the  barracks. 
But  Lysias  was  no  wiser  as  to  the  cause  of  all  the 
uproar.  Paul,  as  he  lay  that  night  with  all  the  future 
black  before  him,  was  conscious  of  the  real  presence 
of  his  Lord  by  him. 

"  Courage !  "  said  the  Presence.  "  As  you  have 
testified  to  me  at  Jerusalem,  so  you  must  do  at 
Rome." 

The  Jews  who  saw  their  archenemy  Paul  snatched 
from  under  their  very  hand  by  the  Roman  power 
were  determined  that,  even  now,  he  should  not  escape. 


"AWAY  WITH  HIM"  299 

Between  forty  and  fifty  of  them  came  together  at  dawn 
on  the  next  day  in  secret.  They  formed  a  plot  for  an 
ambuscade.  Standing  together,  they  took  a  most 
solemn  oath  that  they  would  not  taste  food  till  they 
had  killed  Paul.  They  went,  then,  down  to  the  Temple 
and  gained  audience  with  the  high  priests  and  elders. 

*'  We  have,"  they  said,  "  taken  a  solemn  oath  to 
taste  no  food  till  we  have  killed  Paul.  Now,  you 
and  the  Sanhedrin  must  let  the  commander  know  that 
you  propose  to  investigate  this  case  in  detail,  so  that 
he  may  have  Paul  brought  down  to  you.  We  will  be 
all  ready  and  will  kill  him  on  the  way  down." 

A  young  man  overheard  men  talking  about  the 
plot.  He  was  Paul's  nephew.  He  hurried  up  to  the 
citadel,  got  entrance  to  the  barracks  and  was  allowed 
to  see  Paul,  to  whom  he  told  the  whole  story.  Paul 
called  to  one  of  the  officers. 

"  Take  this  young  man,"   he  said,   "  to  the  com- 
mander, for  he  has  some  news  to  give  him." 
So  the  officer  led  Paul's  nephew  to  Lysias. 
"  The  prisoner  Paul,"  he  said,  "  has  summoned  me 
to  ask  if  I  would  bring  this  young  man  to  you,  as 
he  has  something  to  tell  you." 

The  commander  took  Paul's  nephew  by  the  hand 
and  led  him  aside  and  asked  him  in  private,  "  What 
is  the  news  you  have  for  me?  " 

"  The  Jews  have  agreed,"  he  answered,  "  to  ask 
you  to  bring  Paul  down  to-morrow  to  the  Sanhedrin, 
on  the  plea  that  they  propose  to  examine  his  case  in 
detail.  Now,  do  not  let  them  persuade  you.  More 
than  forty  of  them  are  lying  in  ambush  for  him,  and 
they  have  taken  a  solemn  oath  neither  to  eat  nor  to 


300  STORM  AND  STRESS 

drink  till  they  have  murdered  him.  They  are  all 
ready  at  this  moment,  awaiting  your  consent." 

Lysias  paused  to  think;  then  he  dismissed  the  youth. 
His  mind  was  swiftly  made  up.  He  knew  the  anger 
of  Rome  if  a  Roman  citizen,  even  a  prisoner,  suf- 
fered death  by  murder  when  in  the  charge  of  a  Roman 
official. 

"  Tell  nobody,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have  informed 
me  of  this." 

As  Paul's  nephew  went  out  Lysias  called  to  two 
officers,  who  stood  before  him  awaiting  orders. 

"  Get  ready  by  eight  o'clock  to-night  two  hundred 
infantry,  with  rations,  to  march  as  far  as  Csesarea; 
also  seventy  troopers,  and  two  hundred  spearmen." 


XXX 

"1    APPEAL    TO    C^SAR!" 

BY  the  wild  glare  of  torches  seventy  horses  were 
led  out  from  the  garrison  stables.  Their  hoofs 
clattered  up  the  stone  way  under  Antony's 
tower.  File  after  file  of  footmen  gathered  there  till 
two  hundred  soldiers,  with  their  broad  swords  and 
the  bosses  of  their  shields  reflecting  the  yellow  torch- 
light, and  two  hundred  spearmen,  together  with 
seventy  horse-soldiers,  stood  ready  for  the  night 
march  out  on  to  the  Judaean  hills. 

They  were  a  host  of  men  to  guard  Paul.  But  the 
band  of  fierce  Jews  had  vowed  to  slay  him  before  they 
ate  or  drank;  and  such  a  vow  meant  that  he  must  be 
prepared  for  a  swift  and  violent  attack.  The  captain 
of  the  guard  knew  that  in  any  gateway  cloaked  and 
armed  figures  might  be  standing,  hidden  in  the  shadows 
— men  who  would  gladly  die  to  kill  the  man  whom 
they  knew  to  be  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  narrow 
Jewish  belief.  The  captain  knew,  also,  that  to  allow 
the  Jews  to  slay  a  Roman  citizen  who  was  in  his 
charge  would  bring  on  himself  the  punishment  of 
Caesar.  It  was  for  these  reasons  that  he  made  ready 
this  guard  of  four  hundred  and  seventy  soldiers  for 
Paul. 

Paul  swung  himself  astride  his  horse.  There  came 
the  sharp  word  of  command,  followed  by  the  rattle 

801 


302  STORM  AND  STRESS 

of  arms  as  the  men  moved  forward  through  the  dark- 
ness to  the  city  wall  of  Jerusalem.  The  gates  swung 
slowly  open  and  the  shod  feet  of  the  horses  on  the 
flagged  road  echoed  under  the  vaulting  of  the  great 
archway.    They  were  out  on  the  open  road. 

The  men  who  plotted  to  kill  him  were  baulked. 
They  now  must  either  waylay  him  in  the  hills  or 
themselves  die  of  starvation  or  break  their  vow  to 
kill  him  before  they  fed  again.  As  Paul  felt  the 
night  air  on  his  cheek,  when  they  came  through  the 
gates,  he  would  pass  the  place  where,  as  a  young 
man,  he  had  stood  guarding  the  clothes  of  those  who 
stoned  Stephen.  It  would  be  strange  if,  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night,  the  memory  of  that  day  did  not 
flood  across  Paul's  thought  and  flush  his  cheek  with 
shame,  rhixed  with  a  strange  joy  that  now  he  himself 
was  among  the  persecuted  Nazarenes. 

His  horse  breasted  the  hill.  Surrounded  by  the 
guard  of  soldiers,  he  pressed  on  along  the  north 
road,  over  the  rocky  shoulder  of  the  Judsean  hills, 
bearing  westward  through  the  dark  defiles.  They  all 
knew  that  the  enemy  might  leap  out  from  behind  some 
boulder.  If  any  ambush  had  been  prepared,  however, 
the  plotters  remained  hidden,  overawed  by  the  force 
guarding  Paul.  Did  the  ancient  spirit  of  the  proud 
little  tribe  of  Benjamin  leap  in  him  as  they  passed  by 
Gibeah,  where  his  great  namesake.  King  Saul,  had 
lived  ? 

By  the  time  the  dawn  came  up  they  had  out- 
distanced all  probable  danger  of  ambuscade,  for  the 
hill  country  was  past  and  the  plain  lay  before  them. 
But  the  force  of  soldiers  went  on,  dropping  gradually 


AT   NIGHT 


"I  APPEAL  TO  a^SAR!"  303 

toward  the  plain  by  the  Roman  road.  Then,  crossing 
the  valley  of  Ajilon,  by  the  road  which  ran  parallel 
with  the  Mediterranean  coast,  they  came  out  to  the 
fortress  and  town  of  Antipatris,^  where  a  halt  was 
called. 

Both  because  all  serious  danger  of  attack  was  gone 
and  for  the  sake  of  greater  speed  in  travelling,  the 
four  hundred  foot-soldiers  turned  here  and  marched 
back  to  the  castle  at  Jerusalem.  The  seventy  horse- 
soldiers  with  Paul  trotted  forward  more  swiftly  than 
before  along  the  northern  road,  with  the  hills  of 
Samaria  rising  on  their  right,  and  on  their  left  the 
slopes  dropping  to  the  Mediterranean  plain.  At  last, 
turning  west,  they  left  the  rocky  hills  and  gained  the 
soft  land.  To  their  left  lay  the  shining  yellow  of  the 
sand  dunes,  and  beyond  the  sand  the  glittering  ripples 
of  the  Mediterranean.  Cantering  over  the  ridge  they 
came  in  full  sight  of  Caesarea  with  its  theatre  and 
stadium,  its  white  marble  temples  and,  beyond,  jutting 
out  into  the  Mediterranean  itself,  the  square  grim 
mass  of  the  citadel. 

Headed  by  the  captain  of  the  troop  they  rode  straight 
to  the  house  of  the  Roman  governor.  When  Paul 
was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Felix,  the  representa- 
tive of  Nero  himself,  the  captain  felt  in  his  tunic  and 
brought  out  the  roll  on  which  Claudius  Lysias,  the 
chief  captain  at  Jerusalem,  had  written  his  letter  to 
the  governor,  to  whom  he  now  handed  the  parch- 
ment.    Felix  read  the  letter,  which  ran : 

''  Greetings   from   Claudius  Lysias  to  the  most 

excellent  governor  Felix. 

*  Called  locally  Kalactras-le-ain. 


304.  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  This  man  was  taken  by  the  Jews,  who  would 
have  killed  him,  but  I  came  with  soldiers  and  rescued 
him,  for  I  had  been  given  to  understand  that  he  was 
a  Roman  citizen. 

"  Wishing  to  know  what  charges  they  brought 
against  him,  I  took  him  before  their  (the  Jews') 
council.  I  found  that  he  was  accused  of  breaking 
their  law,  but  that  he  was  not  charged  with  having 
done  anything  that  called  for  punishment  by  death 
or .  even  imprisonment. 

"  When  I  was  told  that  the  Jews  were  lying  in 
wait  for  this  man,  I  at  once  sent  him  to  you.  I 
have  also  instructed  his  accusers  to  lay  their  case 
against  him  before  you. 

"  Farewell." 

Felix  read  the  letter  through,  and,  looking  up, 
scanned  with  curiosity  this  man,  who,  though  a  Jew 
himself,  had  fired  the  Jews  with  such  hatred;  and 
who  was  also  a  citizen  of  Rome  itself. 

"  To  what  province  of  the  empire  do  you  belong?  " 
he  asked. 

"  To  the  province  of  Cilicia,"  answered  Paul. 

**  I  will  hear  your  case,"  Felix  announced,  "  when 
your  accusers  have  come  down  from  Jerusalem." 

Then  turning  to  his  officials  he  said: 

"  Keep  this  man  in  Herod's  Judgment  Hall." 

Paul  waited  and  watched  for  five  days.  Then  an- 
other cavalcade  rode  into  Csesarea  from  Jerusalem, 
headed  by  the  high  priest  of  Jerusalem  himself,  the 
greatest  man  among  the  Jews  and  Paul's  most  power- 
ful enemy.    A  skilful  barrister  named  Tertullus  rode 


« I  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR ! "  305 

with  him.  Paul  was  led  into  the  great  hall.  Felix  was 
seated  there  in  his  marble  chair  of  judgment  on  a 
raised  platform,  and  beneath  him  were  his  secretaries. 
There  stood  the  lictors  carrying  the  axes  of  authority. 
Soldiers  guarded  the  judge.  The  bearded  high  priest, 
in  his  robes,  sat  in  dignified  silence.  When  Paul  was 
led  to  his  place  behind  a  marble  balustrade,  Felix 
signalled  to  Tertullus  to  open  the  case  for  the  prosecu- 
tion. 

Tertullus,  with  the  subtlety  of  the  Oriental  orator, 
began  his  speech  by  attempting  to  flatter  the  judge  and 
then  to  prejudice  him  against  Paul. 

"  Most  noble  Felix,"  he  began.  "  We  always  and 
in  all  places  live  under  your  rule  with  thankfulness,  for 
it  is  through  you  that  our  nation  enjoys  great  quiet, 
and  it  is  by  your  forethought  and  provision  that  great 
boons  come  to  us." 

We  can  imagine  that  Felix,  who  was  used  to  this 
kind  of  pleading,  would  wave  his  hand  impatiently 
as  though  saying,  "  Get  to  the  business  before  us."  So 
Tertullus  hastened  on. 

"  Nevertheless,  in  order  that  I  may  not  weary  you, 
I  pray  that,  in  your  clemency,  you  will  listen  to  a  few 
words  from  us." 

Then,  turning  and  pointing  with  scornful  finger 
to  Paul,  he  began  his  attack,  saying : 

"  We  have  found  this  man  a  pestilent  fellow,  a 
mover  of  rebellion  among  all  the  Jews  throughout  the 
world,^  and  (he  sneered)  a  ringleader  in  the  party 
of  the  Nazarenes.  He  has  also  gone  about  to  profane 
the  Temple,  so  that  we  took  him  and  would  have 

*  That  is,  the  world  of  the  Mediterranean. 


306  STORM  AND  STRESS 

judged  him  according  to  our  law,  had  not  the  chief 
captain,  Lysias,  come  and,  with  great  violence,  wrested 
him  away  out  of  our  hands.  Lysias  told  us  to  come 
and  lay  our  case  against  him  before  you,  so  that  you 
might  have  the  whole  charge  before  you." 

Felix  asked  the  other  Jews  there  whether  the  ac- 
cusations brought  by  Tertullus  against  Paul  were 
true.  And  they  all  nodded  their  heads  and  said 
"  Yes." 

Felix  now  turned  to  Paul  and  beckoned  to  him  to 
speak:  Paul  began  with  an  art  even  more  skilful 
than  that  of  Tertullus,  by  suggesting  that  the  long 
experience  Felix  had  of  the  Jews  of  Judaea,  and 
especially  Jerusalem,  would  have  taught  him  the 
lengths  to  which  their  fierce  religious  jfealousy  would 
carry  them. . 

"  I  answer  for  myself  all  the  more  cheerfully,"  he 
began,  "  because  you  have  been  a  judge  for  many 
years  over  this  nation. 

"  It  is  even  now  only  twelve  days  since  I  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  worship.  They  did  not  find  me  dis- 
puting in  the  Temple  with  any  man,  nor  raising  the 
people  into  ferment  either  in  the  synagogues  or  the 
city  itself.  They  have  no  proof  whatever  of  the 
charges  they  bring  against  me. 

"  But  this  I  confess  to  you  that  I  worship  the  God 
of  my  fathers,  believing  all  the  things  which  are  writ- 
ten in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,"  sweeping  his  hand 
toward  his  accusers,  and  adding  with  a  touch  of 
scorn,  "  after  the  way  that  they  call  heresy.  And  I 
hold  the  same  hope  that  they  do  toward  God,  believ- 
ing that  there  is  resurrection  of  the  dead.     And  I 


"  I  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR !  "  307 

am  always  most  careful  in  these  matters  to  avoid  of- 
fence toward  God  and  men. 

"  I  have  been  away  for  many  years,  and  came 
bringing  gifts  and  offerings  to  my  nation,  when  some 
Jews  from  Asia  found  me  in  the  Temple.  I  had 
cleansed  myself  and  done  all  the  acts  of  purification. 
I  was  with  no  mob  nor  any  tumult.  These  men 
ought  to  have  been  here  to  bring  charges  if  they  have 
any  against  me.  Either  that  or  let  those  who  are 
here — belonging  to  the  Jewish  Council — say  whether 
they  found  any  evil  in  me  while  I  stood  before  their 
Council." 

Felix  could  see  that  the  evidence  against  Paul 
was  altogether  too  flimsy  and  vague  to  make  it  pos- 
sible to  condemn  him.  Accusation  and  denial  were 
pitted  against  one  another.  So  he  deferred  the  case  till 
an  impartial  witness  like  Claudius  Lysias,  of  Jeru- 
salem, should  come  down. 

He  called  a  centurion  to  him  and  said : 

"  Guard  Paul,  but  give  liberty  for  his  friends  to 
come  to  visit  him." 

Seeing  how  poor  the  evidence  was  against  Paul, 
it  is  possible  that  Felix  would  have  found  him  "  not 
guilty  "  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  and  would 
have  set  him  free.  But  he  was  not  a  strictly  just  man, 
and,  like  many  other  governors  of  Roman  provinces, 
he  wished  to  be  bribed  with  money  before  he  would  set 
prisoners  free.  His  wife,  too,  was  a  Jewess,  named 
Drusilla,  and  he  may  have  kept  Paul  from  going  free 
in  order  to  please  her. 

One  day  Felix  and  Drusilla  sent  for  Paul  to  go  to 
their  house,  as  they  wanted  to  hear  from  him  more 


308  STORM  AND  STRESS 

of  what  he  believed.  Passing  the  Roman  sentry  at 
the  gate,  the  guard  led  him  through  the  courtyard, 
where  reflections  from  the  sparkling  water  gleamed 
on  the  marble  pillars,  to  the  governor's  Hall  of 
Audience.  Paul,  prisoner  as  he  was,  spoke  boldly  and 
with  fiery  eloquence  and  strong  reasoning.  He  laid 
before  Felix  and  Drusilla  such  a  picture  of  pure,  tem- 
perate strength  and  such  a  splendid  ideal  of  manly 
straightness ;  he  spoke  with  such  awful  power  about  the 
punishment  of  the  unjust  and  the  unclean,  that  it 
seemed  as  though  he  were  the  judge  and  Felix  the 
man  at  the  bar  of  judgement.  And  Felix  trembled. 
His  conscience  was  awakened.  He  shrank  from  the 
picture  of  himself  that  he  saw.     So  he  said : 

"Go  now,  for  this  time;  when  I  have  a  convenient 
opportunity,  I  will  call  for  you." 

For  two  whole  years  Paul  was  kept  at  Caesarea, 
waiting  the  pleasure  of  Felix. 

He  would  wander  guarded  in  the  busy  streets 
among  the  jostling  throng  of  people  coming  and  going. 
He  could  see  men  of  many  nations  in  this  Roman 
town  on  the  Mediterranean  seaboard  of  Syria;  Ro- 
mans from  Italy  walking  with  all  the  proud  confidence 
of  conquest  in  their  bearing,  brisk  Greek  merchants, 
dignified  Arabs  of  the  desert  in  cloaks  of  orange  and 
red  and  brown,  bringing  merchandise  down  from  the 
East  on  the  slow-stepping,  soft-footed  camels;  bearded 
Jews  looking  out  at  their  Roman  conquerors  from 
under  their  bushy  eyebrows  with  ill-concealed  hate, 
and  swarthy  Egyptians  from  the  Nile.  As  an  educated 
Jew,  born  in  a  city  whose  university  was  famous  for 


«I  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR!"  309 

its  school  of  Greek  philosophy,  trained  under  the 
greatest  tutor  in  Jerusalem,  yet  also  by  birth  a  citizen 
of  the  whole  Roman  Empire,  Paul,  with  that  loved 
companion  and  strong  physician  Luke  who  stood  by 
him  through  these  hard  days,  may  well  have  been  the 
only  men  in  all  Csesarea  at  that  time  whose  mind  and 
experience  were  broad  and  deep  enough  to  take  all 
these  varied  people  into  their  sympathetic  understand- 
ing. 

The  great  citadel  stood  with  its  foundations  on  a 
sea-smitten  rock,  as  though  it  would  rule  the  waves  as 
well  as   the  land.     On  either  side   of   it  is   a  bay, 
where  the  sea  runs  over  yellow  sands.     Paul,  as  a 
prisoner  guarded,  would  pace  these  sands  north  and 
south  out  to  the  rocky  headlands,  while  the  Mediter- 
ranean rippled  at  his  feet  or  in  the  winter  its  breakers 
boomed  on  the  great  curving  breakwater  which  almost 
enclosed  the  harbour.    The  ships  of  the  empire  came 
there,  and  as  he  watched  them  set  sail  again  out  of  the 
harbour  into  the  shining  seas,  bound  for  Rome,  the 
resolution  that  had  held  Paul  for  a  long  time  became 
fixed.     He,  too,  would  go  to  Rome,  even  though  it 
were  as  a  prisoner;  and  carry  his  burning  message  to 
the  very  heart  of  the  world. 

At  last  his  opportunity  of  doing  this  came.  At  the 
end  of  two  years  Felix  was  recalled  to  Rome,  and  a  new 
governor,  Porcius  Festus,  sailed  into  the  harbour  at 
Csesarea.  Within  three  days  of  landing  Festus  rode 
up  to  Jerusalem. 

Immediately  the  high  priest  and  the  chief  men 
among  the  Jews,  striking  swiftly  at  Paul,  went  to 
Festus,  told  him  their  story,  and  pleaded  with  the 


310  STORM  AND  STRESS 

governor  to  get  rid  of  Paul  by  sending  for  him  to  be 
tried  in  Jerusalem.  Their  plan  was  to  place  an  ambush 
among  the  hills  behind  rocks  on  the  way  and  have 
Paul  slain. 

Festus,  however,  refused.     He  said: 

*'  I  am  going  down  to  Caesarea  shortly  and  will 
try  him  then.  Let  those  among  you  who  are  able  to 
leave  go  down  with  me  and  bring  your  charge  against 
this  man." 

Within  a  fortnight's  time,  Festus  went  back  to 
Caesarea,  and  on  the  very  next  day  took  his  seat  in  the 
Judgment  Hall  and  ordered  Paul  to  be  brought  be- 
fore him.  Again  the  Jews  laid  their  charges  against 
him,  but  could  not  prove  them.    Again  Paul  said : 

"  I  have  not  broken  at  all  the  laws  either  of  the 
Jews  or  the  Temple  or  Rome." 

*'  Will  you  go  to  Jerusalem  to  be  judged  by  me? " 
asked  Festus. 

Paul  saw  the  peril  from  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem.  He 
trusted  the  Roman  justice.  His  opportunity  of  reach- 
ing Rome  had  come.    He  seized  it  swiftly. 

"  I  stand,"  he  said,  pointing  to  Festus,  "  at  Caesar's 
judgment-seat,  where  I  ought  to  be  judged.  If  I 
have  done  anything  worthy  of  death  I  am  ready  to 
die.  If  there  are  none  of  these  things  of  which  I 
am  rightly  accused,  no  man  may  deliver  me  into  their 
hand. 

"  I  APPEAL  TO  C^SAR." 


XXXI 

THE  KING  AND  THE  MAN  IN  CHAINS 

THERE  was  a  moment  of  silence  in  the  court  as 
Paul  flung  down  his  challenge. 
"  I  appeal  to  Csesar." 
Festus  was  clearly  startled  at  Paul's  audacity, 
while  recognising  his  right  to  make  the  appeal.  A 
short  consultation  took  place  between  the  governor 
and  his  advisers,  and  then  Festus,  looking  Paul  in 
the  face,  said: 

"  You  have  appealed  to  Csesar  ?    To  Caesar  you  shall 

go. 

Some  days  later  there  was  a  great  stir  in  the  city. 
A  gorgeous  cavalcade  of  men,  riding  Arab  chargers 
harnessed  with  jewelled  trappings,  entered  Caesarea. 
From  every  window  curious  eyes  peered,  and  every 
house-top  was  crowded  to  see  the  King  Agrippa  and  his 
new  consort.  Queen  Bernice,  pass  through  the  streets, 
to  greet  the  new  governor.^  Festus  feasted  the  King 
and  Queen.  There  would  be  plays  in  the  great  open- 
air  marble  theatre  that  stood  half  a  mile  from  the 
sea,  races  in  the  stadium  and  sports  in  the  harbour. 

At  last,  after  some  time  of  feasting,  Festus  was  one 
day  talking  political  business  with  Agrippa,  when  he 
remembered  Paul. 

*  The  relation  of  King  Agrippa  to  Festus  would  be  like  that 
of  a  great  Maharajah  in  India  to  the  British  viceroy. 

311 


312  STORM  AND  STRESS 

"  There  is  a  certain  man,"  said  Festus,  "  left  here 
in  chains  by  Felix.  When  I  was  in  Jerusalem  the  chief 
Jews  pressed  me  to  give  judgment  against  him.  I  told 
them  that  the  Romans  did  not  execute  a  man  before  he 
and  his  accusers  had  met  face  to  face,  and  he  had 
opportunity  to  answer  for  himself  about  the  crime 
with  which  he  was  charged. 

"  When  they  came  here,  however,  they  brought 
no  such  charge  as  I  had  expected,  but  attacked  him 
on  matters  of  their  own  superstition;  and  of  one  Jesus, 
who  was  dead,  but  Paul  insisted  that  he  was  alive. 
I  was  so  doubtful  about  questions  of  this  kind  that 
I  asked  him  whether  he  would  be  judged  in  Jeru- 
salem. But  when  Paul  appealed  to  Caesar,  I  gave 
orders  for  him  to  be  kept  till  I  could  send  him  to 
Rome." 

So  unusual  a  case  interested  King  Agrippa. 

"  I  would  like  to  hear  the  man  myself,"  he 
said. 

"  You  shall  hear  him  to-morrow,"  Festus  answered, 
and  gave  orders  for  the  "  Hall  of  Hearing "  to  be 
prepared  and  for  Paul  to  be  brought  up  for  examina- 
tion. 

On  the  following  day,  when  Paul  was  led  into  the 
Judgment  Hall,  he  found,  therefore,  not  only  Festus, 
but  also — seated  beside  him,  in  great  pomp — King 
Agrippa  and  Bernice.  Round  them  was  a  brilliant 
crowd  of  people,  the  chief  captains  of  the  soldiers  in 
all  the  glitter  of  their  polished  armour;  and  the  men 
of  high  standing  in  the  city,  all  dressed  in  their  finest 
robes. 

Festus  then  stood  up,  pointing  to  Paul,  and  said: 


THE  KING  AND  THE  MAN  313 

"  King  Agrippa  and  all  who  are  present,  you  see 
this  man  about  whom  the  Jews,  both  at  Jerusalem  and 
here,  cry  that  he  ought  not  live  any  longer.  I  have 
determined  to  send  him  to  Rome,  seeing  that  he  has 
done  nothing  for  which  he  could  be  condemned  to 
death.  But  I  have  nothing  definite  about  which  to 
write  to  my  Lord,  the  Emperor.  I  have  brought  him 
before  you  and  " — turning  to  the  royal  pair  at  his  side 
— "  especially  before  you,  King  Agrippa,  so  that,  after 
he  has  been  examined,  I  may  have  something  to  write. 
For  I  do  feel  it  to  be  senseless  to  send  a  prisoner 
and  not,  at  the  same  time,  to  say  what  charges  are 
brought  against  him," 

When  Festus  was  again  seated,  he  left  it  to  the 
King  to  say  what  he  wished. 

King  Agrippa,  turning  to  Paul,  said: 

"  You  are  permitted  to  speak  for  yourself," 

Paul  was  faced  by  the  power  of  Rome  and  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Jew;  and  he  himself  was  a  chained 
prisoner.  But  with  that  strange  power  that  comes 
from  a  mighty  and  well-trained  mind,  free  from  fear 
and  utterly  given  to  a  strong  purpose,  he  became,  not 
the  cringing  pleader  that  an  Eastern  king  like  Agrippa 
might  expect  to  see,  but  a  great  ambassador  represent- 
ing an  Almighty  God, 

"  I  think  myself  happy.  King  Agrippa,"  he  began, 
*'  that  I  am  to  make  my  defence  before  you,  with 
regard  to  the  actions  of  which  the  Jews  accuse  me; 
especially  because  you  are  an  expert  in  all  the  customs 
and  questions  among  them.  So  I  desire  that  you  will 
listen  to  me  patiently, 

"  Jht  way  I  lived  as  a  youth  and  afterward  among 


314  STORM  AND  STRESS 

my  own  people  and  at  Jerusalem  is  well  known  to  all 
the  Jews,  who  could,  if  they  would,  bear  witness 
that  I  lived  in  the  strictest  way  of  our  religion  as  a 
Pharisee.  And  now  " — he  went  on  with  biting  sar- 
casm— "  I  stand  here  to  be  judged  because  I  believe  it 
possible  that  God  will  carry  out  the  Promise  He  made 
to  our  fathers!  It  is,"  exclaimed  Paul,  "because  of 
this  hope  that  the  Jews  accuse  me,  O  King!  Why 
should  you  think  it  impossible  to  believe  that  God 
raises  the  dead  ?  " 

Then  Paul,  with  sudden  dramatic  change,  placed 
himself  alongside  his  own  enemies,  painting  with  swift 
strokes  the  picture  of  what  he  himself  had  been  as 
the  terrible  persecutor  of  the  Christians. 

"  Truly,"  he  said,  "  I  used  to  think  that  I  ought 
to  do  many  things  to  oppose  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  In  Jerusalem  I  had  many  of  them  put  into 
prison — and  even  when  they  were  put  to  death,  I  cast 
my  pebble  into  the  urn  as  a  vote  against  them.  I 
harried  them  in  their  meeting-places.  I  tried  to  make 
them  blaspheme.  And  I  became  so  exceedingly  mad 
against  them  that  I  even  pursued  them  to  foreign 
cities." 

"  How,"  his  hearers  would  be  asking  themselves, 
"  could  such  a  man  possibly  become  a  follower  of  this 
Jesus,  the  Nazarene  ?  " 

The  answer  came  swiftly  as  Paul  lay  before  them 
his  commission  as  the  King's  ambassador. 

"  As  I  was  journeying  to  Damascus  with  the  author- 
ity of  the  chief  priests  themselves  at  midday,  O  King, 
I  saw  on  the  way  a  light  from  the  sky,  brighter  than 
the  blaze  of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and  my 


THE  KING  AND  THE  MAN  315 

travelling  companions.    And,  as  we  were  all  fallen  on 
to  the  road,  I  heard  a  voice  saying  to  me : 

"  '  Saul,  Saul,  why  do  you  persecute  Me  ?     It  is 
hard  for  you  to  kick  against  the  goad.' 
"  And  I  said,  '  Who  are  you.  Lord? '  " 
"  *I  am  Jesus,  whom  you  persecute.'  " 
We  can  feel,  even  now,  the  tense  silence  in  the 
Hall  of  Hearing  as  every  eye  watched  Paul  and  every 
ear   drank  in  his   words   while  he   retold   the   story 
which    you    have    already    read,    of    how    he,    the 
persecutor,  was  to  go  to  the  foreign  peoples  to  open 
their  eyes,  so  that  they  might  turn  from  darkness  to^ 
light. 

"  So,  O  King  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  to 
the  heavenly  vision;  but  I  told  those  in  Damascus  and 
in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judaea,  aye !  and  the  foreign 
nations  also,  that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God, 
doing  work  that  would  show  their  real  sorrow.  And 
it  was  for  this  that  the  Jews  seized  hold  of  me  in  the 
Temple  and  tried  to  kill  me!  ...  I  say  nothing 
except  that  what  the  Prophets  and  Moses  said  would 
come ;  how  that  Christ  must  suffer  and  He  first  would 
by  His  rising  bring  light  to  the  people  at  home  and 
abroad." 

As  Paul's  swift  words  stirred  the  minds  of  the 
nobles  and  the  soldiers  of  high  rank,  we  can  feel  how 
the  men  who  at  the  beginning  were  listening  with  the 
stolid,  sneering  indifference  of  the  Roman  to  "  this 
Jewish  fanatic  "  would  be  drawn,  in  spite  of  them- 
selves, into  keen  interest.  Now,  as  always,  it  was  im- 
possible to  be  indifferent  to  Paul.  You  were  bound 
either  to  fight  him  violently  or  side  with  him  with 


316  STORM  AND  STRESS 

all  your  might.  So,  as  Paul  stopped  speaking,  Festus 
burst  out  in  a  loud  voice  with: 

"  Paul,  you  are  mad;  your  great  learning  has  turned 
your  brain." 

"  I  am  not  mad,  most  excellent  Festus,"  replied  Paul 
in  a  good-tempered  way.  "  But  I  speak  the  words 
of  sober  truth.  The  king  here,"  pointing  to  Agrippa, 
"knows  these  things,  for  I  feel  certain  that  none  of 
them  are  hidden  from  him.  All  this  has  not  been  done 
in  a  corner." 

Then,  turning  to  King  Agrippa,  Paul  shot  out,  with 
all  his  passion,  a  direct  appeal : 

"King  Agrippa,  do  you  believe  the  Prophets?  I 
know  that  you  do." 

It  was  a  swift  home-thrust,  and  Agrippa  could  not 
say  "  No  "-;  yet  if  he  said  "  Yes,"  he  knew  that  Paul 
would  immediately  ask,  "  Why  will  you  not  believe 
then  that  the  things  they  foretold  have  really  hap- 
pened, and  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  ?  " 

The  tables  were  turned.  As  with  Felix,  the  gov- 
ernor, so  again  with  this  Oriental  king,  Agrippa  seemed 
the  prisoner  on  his  trial  and  Paul  in  the  chair  of  the 
judge.  So  the  king  evaded  Paul's  question  with  a 
laugh. 

"  With  but  little  persuasion,"  he  said,  "  you  would 
make  me  a  Christian." 

We  can  see  Paul  leaning  forward  and  with  eager 
eyes  saying,  as  he  swung  his  arm  round  toward  the 
whole  body  of  listeners  now  intent  on  this  strange 
dialogue,  such  as  was  never  heard  before  between 
prisoner  and  king: 

"  I  would  to  God  that,  whether  with  little  persua- 


THE  KING  AND  THE  MAN  317 

sion  or  much,  not  you  alone,  but  all  these  that  hear  me 
to-day,  might  become  just  as  I  am  " — and  then,  lifting 
his  chained  wrist — "  except  these  bonds." 

The  eagerness  of  Paul's  tone  left  Agrippa  no 
answer  that  he  could  make;  so,  in  silence,  he  stood 
up — to  show  that  the  audience  was  closed — and  the 
king  with  his  wife  and  Festus  and  with  all  the  Court 
went  back  again.  And,  as  they  talked  together  after- 
ward over  the  case  of  Paul,  Agrippa  said  to  Festus : 

"  If  this  man  had  not  appealed  to  Caesar,  he  might 
have  been  set  free." 

But  Paul  had  appealed  to  Rome.  The  die  was 
cast.  So  Festus  called  in  Julius,  a  centurion,  who 
belonged  to  that  legion  of  soldiers  whose  duty  it  was 
to  control  the  courier-service  on  the  Roman  roads 
and  to  watch  the  service  of  ships  that  carried  corn  and 
slaves  and  prisoners  to  Rome  from  the  different  prov- 
inces. Festus  handed  Paul  over  to  this  man's  charge 
with  orders  to  convey  him  with  some  other  prisoners 
to  Rome. 

There  was  no  ship  in  Csesarea  harbour  at  that  time 
which  was  sailing  direct  to  Rome.  But  it  happened 
that  there  was  a  ship  just  ready  to  start  along  the 
south  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was  to  touch  at  Myra, 
where  Julius  was  fairly  sure  of  finding  a  corn-ship 
sailing  to  Rome — as  many  of  these  Alexandrian  fru- 
mentarii'^  came  to  harbour  there. 

At  last  the  day  had  come  when  Paul  was  to  leave 
the  provinces  of  Rome  for  the  capital  itself.  He 
went  aboard  the  ship  with  Julius,  the  centurion,  and 

*  The  fleet  of  ships  which  brought  constant  supplies  of  corn  to 
Rome,  which  then  had  over  1,000,000  inhabitants. 


318  STORM  AND  STRESS 

with  other  prisoners.  With  him  were  some  faithful 
friends — among  them  Luke,  his  doctor-companion,  and 
the  old  friend  from  Macedonia,  named  Aristarchus. 
It  may  even  have  been  necessary  for  them  to  ship  as 
Paul's  slaves  in  order  to  be  with  him.  They  would 
not  care  how  they  went  so  long  as  they  were  with  their 
leader.  And  it  always  made  Paul  much  happier  to 
have  companions  with  him. 

The  ship  cast  off,  and,  hoisting  her  sail,  went  out 
through  the  narrow  opening  at  the  north  end  of  the 
harbour  between  the  great  breakwater  and  the  head- 
land. As  Paul  felt  the  heave  of  the  Great  Sea  under 
the  ship  and  saw  her  bows  plunging  their  way  north- 
west, he  knew  that  before  him  was  the  most  daring 
of  all  his  adventures.  But  he  did  not  know  the  perils 
that  still  threatened  him  before  he  would  see  the 
Emperor  face  to  face. 


BOOK  IV 
FINISHING  THE  COURSE 


XXXII 

THE  TYPHOON 

LEANING  on  the  ship's  rail  as  the  sun  set  over  the 
J  sea,  after  they  left  the  Csesarea  harbour,  Paul 
took  his  last  look  on  Mount  Carmel,  that  lifted 
its  strong  outline  into  the  clouds.  But  later,  night 
having  fallen,  only  the  men  on  the  midnight  watch 
would  see  the  torches  of  Tyre  as  the  ship  sailed  on  its 
way  northward. 

The  next  day,  however,  the  vessel  sailed  into  the 
harbour  at  Sidon,  where  she  found  ships  of  as  many 
nations  as  those  she  had  left  at  Caesarea.  The  clever- 
est sailors  on  the  coast  were  at  Sidon,  where  the  sound 
of  the  shipwright's  mallet,  and  all  the  hurly-burly 
of  a  busy  port,  struck  on  Paul's  ear  as  the  ship  cast 
anchor. 

He  told  the  centurion  that  he  had  friends  in  Sidon. 
For  he  had  been  there  twice  before  with  Barnabas, 
and  again  and  again  afterward.  Julius  had  already 
come  under  the  spell  of  Paul  and  said  that  he  might 
go  ashore,  prisoner  though  he  was.  So  he  went  with 
that  eagerness  which  always  came  on  Paul  at  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  good  friends. 

When  the  time  came  for  going  aboard  again  and 

sailing  from  Sidon,  the  wind  had  stiffened  from  the 

west.    The  ship  was  bound  northwest  for  Myra  on  the 

coast  of  Lycia,  right  across  Cyprus,  which  lay  in  her 

321 


322  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

track.  But  she  could  not  sail  south  of  Cyprus  in  the 
teeth  of  the  wind  with  her  one  large  mainsail.  She 
made  north,  therefore,  with  the  wind  on  her  port 
beam,  so  getting  under  the  lee  of  the  island.  As  he 
passed  Cyprus,  Paul  might  see  Salamis  and  remember 
the  far-off  voyage,  twelve  years  before,  when  he  with 
Barnabas  first  came  in  sight  of  the  port  on  their  first 
venture  as  missionaries.  Between  that  day  and  this 
he  had  sailed,  ridden,  and  trudged  his  thousands  of 
miles  over  highland  and  lowland,  sea  and  river, 
drenched  with  rain  and  snow,  and  scorched  by  the 
sun.  Beaten  and  stoned,  imprisoned  and  robbed,  he 
had  yet  never  turned  back  from  his  great  adventure. 

The  ship  sailed  past  Salamis  (with  its  sword-fish 
headland)  still  northward,  searching  for  the  calmer 
coast  winds  of  the  Cilician  and  Pamphylian  sea.  So 
Paul  came  within  sight  of  the  plain  where  he  was  born, 
and  the  great  mountain  range  which  he  had  gazed  at 
as  a  boy  from  the  roof  of  his  father's  house.  It  was 
his  last  look  at  his  homeland,  for  the  ship's  nose  was 
now  turned  west.  The  winds  had,  as  the  captain  had 
expected,  become  quieter  and  milder  under  the  coast. 

It  was  slow  work,  however,  tacking  to  and  fro  to 
take  advantage  of  the  light  off-shore  breezes.  But  at 
last  they  came  in  sight  of  the  hilly  coast  of  Lycia,  and 
sailed  into  the  strange  great  harbour  of  Myra,  which 
lay  in  front  of  the  beautiful  gorge  that  led  up  into 
the  hills.  Julius,  the  centurion,  looked  eagerly  and 
anxiously  at  the  ships  that  lay  in  the  port.  His  face 
lighted  as  he  saw  a  ship,  whose  rig  and  cut  told  him 
at  once  that  she  hailed  from  the  Egyptian  coast.  He 
found,  true  enough,  that  she  had  been  driven  north 


THE  TYPHOON  323 

from  Egypt  to  Myra,  and  was  bound  for  Italy.  Sh6 
was  one  of  the  fleet  of  wheat  ships  which  sailed  for 
Alexandria  to  PuteoH  carrying  food  for  the  city  of 
Rome. 

Julius  gave  the  order  for  his  soldiers  and  prisoners 
to  change  ships.  They  climbed  on  to  the  wheat  ship, 
which  already  had  many  people  aboard.  They  loosed 
from  Myra  and  tried  to  bear  up  to  Cnidus,  farther 
west  on  the  same  coast.  But  the  winds  stuck  obsti- 
nately against  them.  Tack  and  turn  as  she  would  the 
ship  hardly  made  progress.  She  had  worked  wind- 
ward for  many  days  before  she  made  Cnidus,  which 
was  only  a  day's  good  sailing  from  Myra.  If  sailing 
was  difficult  here,  it  would  be  worse  ahead,  for,  from 
this  point,  the  protecting  coast  left  them.  The  captain 
of  the  ship  turned  her  course  south  to  get  under  the 
lee  of  Crete,  in  the  hope  of  finding  more  favourable 
winds.^ 

So  it  proved,  for  when  they  swung  round  the  bold 
headland  of  Salmone,  they  ran  into  calmer  water  and 
soon  fetched  the  harbour  of  Fair  Havens. 

The  Mediterranean  Sea  is  not  safe  for  sailing  ships 
from  November  to  March  5,  and  always  they  thought 
of  the  sea  as  closed  during  that  time.  The  ship  in 
which  Paul  was  travelling  had  made  such  a  slow  voyage 
that  now  she  had  no  hope  of  getting  to  Italy  before 
the  winter  gales  started.     They  were  bound  to  stop. 

Paul,  born  as  he  was  at  a  great  port,  and  with  all  his 
experiences  of  sailing,  knew  the  Great  Sea  in  all  its 

*  Every  nautical  detail  of  the  narrative  has  been  worked  out  by 
the  Mediterranean  naval  expert,  James  Smith,  in  his  authoritative 
"  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul." 


324  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

moods.     He  spoke  to  the  centurion,  the  master,  and 
the  owner  saying: 

"  I  can  see  that  this  voyage  will  be  with  hurt  and 
much  damage,  not  only  to  the  cargo  and  the  ship,  but 
to  the  lives  of  us  on  board." 

But  they  thought  that  the  harbour  of  Phenice, 
further  west  along  the  Cretan  coast,  was  a  better 
harbour  for  wintering  in ;  and  it  was  distant  only  a  few 
hours'  sailing.  They  therefore  overruled  Paul,  and 
sailed. 

A  soft  south  wind,  with  the  warmth  of  the  sands 
of  Egypt  in  it,  moved  on  the  face  of  the  waters,  as 
the  ship  put  out  from  Fair  Havens.  With  her  bows 
gently  cleaving  the  coast-waters  and  the  breeze  on 
her  starboard  beam,  she  must  have  given  all  on  board 
the  feeling  that  Paul's  alarm  had  been  needless.  Hug- 
ging the  coast,  she  soon  swung  round  Cape  Matala, 
and  giving  more  to  the  wind,  slid  north-westward 
toward  Phenice. 

Away  to  the  right  they  saw  Mount  Ida  lifting  her 
peak  into  the  sky  on  the  north  coast.  In  a  few  hours 
they  would  be  in  the  harbour,  where  they  would  lie 
for  the  winter.  But  a  sharp  man  on  the  lookout 
would  have  seen,  over  Mount  Ida,  ugly  weather  brew- 
ing. Without  warning,  like  a  treacherous  blow  from 
a  smiling  friend,  the  wind  curved  from  the  south  in  a 
circle,  and  swept  back  from  the  north  like  a  wheel- 
ing eagle  striking  his  prey.  The  gale  smote  the  boat 
till  she  reeled  and  wrenched  at  her  sails,  threatening 
to  tear  the  mighty  mainmast  from  its  roots  in  the 
ship. 

Over  them  the  clouds  whirled  in  the  typhoon.    The 


THE  TYPHOON  325 

white  spray,  lashed  up  from  the  sea  under  the  torment- 
ing whip  of  the  storm,  swept  her  deck.  The  Httle  boat 
which  was  being  towed  behind  (for  it  had  hardly 
seemed  worth  while  swinging  her  aboard  for  the  short 
run  from  Fair  Havens  to  Phenice)  tossed  like  a  cork 
on  a  thread  from  crest  to  crest  of  the  swiftly  whitening 
waves. 

The  seamen  climbed  the  rigging  to  the  great  yard 
and  furled  the  sail.  All  attempt  to  bear  up  against 
the  wind  was  impossible;  and,  at  a  command  from  the 
captain,  the  men  at  the  rudder-sweeps  let  her  drive. 
Like  a  horse  loosened  from  its  halter  she  tore  across 
the  green  fields  of  the  sea,  while  the  white-backed  sea 
hounds  leapt  and  bayed  at  her  sides. 

As  the  toppling  mainmast  reeled  dizzily  and  groaned 
under  the  tear  and  wrench  of  the  typhoon,  the  ship 
shivered  in  every  beam.  Her  timbers  began  to  start 
under  the  terrible  leverage  of  the  mast,  and  a  seaman 
going  below-decks  into  the  hold  would  hear  the  sound 
that  grips  a  sailor's  heart  with  a  chill  hand — the  suck 
and  splash  of  water  in  a  leaking  hull. 


XXXIII 
SHIPWRECK 

OVER  the  bow  to  windward  they  saw  an  island 
loom.  The  ship  staggered  on,  and  at  last, 
under  the  lee  of  this  island  of  Clauda,  in 
smoother  water,  they  rounded  her  to,  pulled  the  ship's 
boat  alongside  from  the  stern,  and,  having  baled  out  the 
seas  she  had  shipped,  swung  her  aboard.  Cables  were 
then  uncoiled,  and  the  sailors,  clinging  to  the  ship's 
sides,  tugging  and  hauling,  as  she  swayed  and  swung 
from  trough  to  crest,  wrapped  the  cables  round  under 
her  hull,  then  across  her  deck  and  hove  them  tight. 

When  they  were  thus  wound  round  the  ship  and 
made  fast,  the  cables  gripped  the  vessel  like  the  hoops 
of  a  barrel.  She  became  more  rigid,  and  the  grind- 
ing and  wrenching  of  her  leaking  timbers  was  made 
less.  Still  the  strain  was  terrible,  largely  through 
the  pull  of  the  mainmast.  So  the  sailors  swarmed 
aloft  and  fetched  down  her  top  gear.  Then,  with 
stormsail  set,  she  swung  again  into  the  path  of  the 
gale,  with  her  two  paddle-rudders  holding  her  to  the 
starboard  tack,  by  which  alone  she  could  escape  the 
dreaded  Syrtis  quicksands. 

Night  fell,  but  the  gale  held.  All  through  the  dark 
Paul  and  Luke  would  hear  the  sound  of  the  hiss  and 
thud  of  the  waves  as  they  smote  the  ship  and  went 
seething  over  her  streaming  decks, 

336 


SHIPWRECK  32T 

Did  they  think  of  that  storm  in  the  Lake  of  GaHlee 
of  which  Luke  wrote?  They  would  surely  think  of 
the  Lord  who  ruled  that  storm. 

The  hum  of  the  wind  in  the  rigging  had  risen  to  a 
long  wail,  as  though  the  ship  moaned  in  her  agony. 
The  waves  hung  over  her  like  mountains,  and  then, 
diving  with  a  mad  swoop  under  her  bow,  lifted  her  up, 
up  till  her  decks  sloped  at  a  dizzy  angle ;  and  then  slung 
her  down  the  ravine  of  water  into  the  abyss. 

Tossed  thus,  and  with  the  leaking  water  in  the  hold 
menacing  them,  they  were  forced  to  lighten  the  ship. 
The  sailors  hurled  overboard  all  kinds  of  things  in 
their  effort  to  keep  her  afloat.  But,  as  a  second  night 
fell,  the  buffeted  ship  still  laboured  in  the  tempest. 
And,  when  the  men  on  the  morning  watch  strained 
their  eyes  as  dawn  came  up,  they  could  see  nothing  save 
the  wild,  tumbling  waste  of  waters. 

The  ship  must  be  lightened  still  further.  Every- 
thing loose  was  overboard  already,  so  her  tackling  was 
bound  to  go.  Paul  and  Luke  joined  in  the  work,  and 
it  may  well  be  that  the  mainyard — which  was  often 
an  immense  spar  as  long  as  the  vessel  itself — was 
thrown  overboard  by  the  united  efforts  of  crew  and 
passengers. 

"  We  cast  out  with  our  own  hands  the  tackling  of 
the  ship,"  writes  Luke. 

Day  after  dreary  day  wore  on.  Morning,  noon,  and 
night  dragged  by,  but  never  did  the  sky  break.  They 
looked  anxiously  skyward  for  a  glimpse  of  the  sun, 
or  for  the  gleam  of  a  star,  by  which  they  could  deter- 
mine their  direction;  but  the  unbroken  gray  of  sea 
and  sky  mocked  the  ship. 


328  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

The  sailors  noted  the  ominous  heaviness  in  the 
roll  of  the  now  water-logged  ship.  They  must  have 
believed  that  she  would  founder,  for 

"  All  hope  of  being  saved  was  taken  away." 

Kneeling  on  the  deck,  they  prayed  to  the  Twin 
Brethren,  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  guardian  gods  of 
ships,  as  the  Romans  believed.  But  no  help  came. 
Despair  fell  upon  them.  Their  hearts  were  as  heavy 
as  the  leaden  sky.  Yet  the  prisoner  Paul,  with  that 
wonderful  dignity  of  his,  now  seemed,  by  his  courage 
and  confidence,  not  the  man  in  chains,  but  the  captain. 

Sweeping  the  faces  of  the  crew  and  the  passengers 
with  eyes  that  never  showed  a  flicker  of  fear  of  the 
tempest,  he  said : 

"  You  should  have  listened  to  me,  and  not  have 
loosed  from  Crete,  to  suffer  all  this  harm  and 
loss. 

"  Now,  I  call  on  you  to  be  of  good  cheer,  for  there 
shall  be  no  loss  of  any  man's  life  among  you,  though 
the  ship  will  go  to  pieces." 

The  faces  of  all  the  people  caught  the  cheerfulness 
of  Paul,  yet  they  could  hardly  believe  it.  How  should 
he  know?  Paul  went  on  in  answer  to  this  unspoken 
question : 

"  This  very  night  a  messenger  of  the  God  Whose  I 
am  and  Whom  I  serve  stood  by  me  and  said : 

Do  not  be  afraid,  Paul.  You  must  be  brought 
before  Caesar.  And  God  has  given  to  you  all  who  are 
saihng  with  you.'  So  be  of  good  cheer :  for  I  believe 
that  it  will  be  just  as  it  was  told  me.  But  we  must  be 
wrecked  on  a  certain  island." 

For  a  fortnight  the  nightmare  of  tempest  had  held 


SHIPWRECK  329 

them.  Now  the  fourteenth  night  had  fallen.  The  gale 
was  driving  them  across  the  sea  south  of  the  Adriatic. 
Suddenly  there  was  a  stir  among  the  sailors.  The 
quick  ear  of  one  and  then  of  another  caught  a  sound. 
Terror  and  hope  were  on  them  together.  For  they  had 
heard  the  far-off  boom  of  the  breakers  on  a  rocky 
headland.  It  was  land — land  for  which  they  had 
hoped  through  all  those  days  and  nights,  but  land  that 
might  mean  awful  death  in  the  dark  on  the  jagged 
teeth  of  a  cruel  coast. 

The  sound  was  now  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
them,  and  the  white  rim  of  foam  may  have  been  seen 
even  in  the  night  over  the  lee  bow.  Ahead  over  the 
starboard  bow  lay  an  opening  in  the  coast.  A  man 
in  the  bows  swung  out  the  lead  and  sounded  the 
depth. 

"  Twenty  fathoms !  "  he  called. 

The  ship  sailed  on  and  the  sound  of  the  breakers 
drew  nearer.  Preparations  were  made  on  board. 
While  the  sailors  were  busy  with  cables  and  anchors 
in  the  stern,  the  man  in  the  bow  threw  out  his  lead 
again,  and : 

"  Fifteen  fathoms !  "  he  cried. 

The  sea  was  shallowing.  Over  the  lee  bow  the  dash 
of  the  breakers  could  be  heard,  and  the  whirl  of  white 
spray  could  now  be  clearly  seen.  The  order  came, 
and  with  it  four  anchors  slid  from  the  stern,  their 
cables  ran  through  the  rudder  ports,  while  the  rudder 
paddles  were  lifted  and  lashed  out  of  the  way  of  the 
waves.  The  splash  of  the  anchors  was  followed  by 
silent  moments  of  waiting. 

*' .Would  they  hold?" 


330  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

The  ship  slowed,  tugged  at  the  cables — and  stopped. 
They  had  lighted  on  a  perfect  ground,  where  anchors 
never  start.  But  the  galloping  breakers  still  came  in 
from  the  north-east,  and  swept  and  broke  upon  the 
ship's  stern,  while  the  leaking  waters  logged  her  hold. 
The  anchors  would  not  give,  but  the  vessel  would 
certainly  break  to  pieces  before  long. 

There  was  a  movement  among  the  seamen.  The 
boat  was  loosed  and  swung  over  the  side  and  let 
down.  The  men  were  following,  pretending  that  they 
were  going  to  cast  out  anchors  from  the  bow — an 
utterly  useless  thing  to  do  in  the  circumstances.  Their 
real  aim  was  to  escape  from  the  ship  that  they  thought 
was  doomed. 

Paul  saw  the  manoeuvre.  Going  to  the  centurion, 
he  said: 

"  Unless  these  men  stay  in  the  ship,  you  cannot 
be  saved." 

Julius  gave  a  sharp  order  to  the  soldiers,  who, 
running  to  the  sides,  drew  their  short  swords  and 
slashed  the  boat  ropes.  The  loosened  boat,  caught  by 
the  whirl  of  wind  and  water,  shot  out — empty — and 
was  lost  in  the  darkness. 

The  black  of  the  night  was  now  breaking  into  grey. 
As  dawn  came  up  Paul,  who  knew  that  every  man 
would  need  all  the  strength  that  he  could  command, 
stood  up  and  cheered  the  people,  saying: 

"  This  is  the  fourteenth  day  that  you  have  waited 
without  food,  having  taken  nothing.  Take  some  food 
now  to  strengthen  you;  for  not  a  hair  shall  fall  from 
the  head  of  any  one  of  you." 

Taking  up  a  flat  ship's  loaf,  Paul  asked  a  blessing, 


SHIPWRECK  331 

and,  breaking  the  bread,  ate  it  in  front  of  the  dejected 
people,  soldiers,  sailors,  traders,  and  government 
officials  who  crowded  the  deck.  They  caught  the 
spirit  of  courage  from  Paul,  and  ate  with  him. 

The  plan  which  had  been  formed  was  that  when 
full  daylight  came  they  should  look  round  the  coast  off 
which  they  were  anchored,  and  choose  a  good  place 
for  running  the  vessel  ashore.  As  every  inch  of  dis- 
tance from  the  beach  would  add  to  the  danger  of  land- 
ing in  the  stormy  sea,  the  ship  must  be  made  as  light 
as  possible,  so  that  she  would  go  all  the  nearer  to  the 
shore  before  grounding.  They  set  to  work  and  hauled 
from  the  hold  sack  after  sack  of  wheat,  tumbling  them 
one  after  the  other  into  the  sea.  The  ship  was 
lightened,  so  that  she  drew  less  water.  By  this  time 
it  was  full  day. 

The  sailors  looked  closely  at  the  shore,  but  none  of 
them  had  ever  seen  it  before.  There  was  a  bay  to  their 
right;  indeed,  they  were  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the 
bay,  with  the  bow  of  the  ship  toward  the  rocky  head- 
land that  made  its  southern  horn. 

They  spied  in  the  bay  a  creek  with  a  sandy  beach. 
The  captain  decided  to  try  to  run  for  this.  Even  the 
hardiest  sailor  would  shiver  at  the  perilous  manoeuvre, 
for  right  ahead  the  waves  broke  furiously  on  precipices 
of  rock,  which  would  smash  the  ship  and  grind  her 
timbers  to  splinters  if  they  failed  to  swing  her  round 
in  time. 

At  the  bow  and  at  the  stern  men  stood  ready  in 
silence — waiting.  The  command  rang  out.  With 
swift  hands  the  men  at  the  bow  hoisted  the  foresail; 
at  the  stern  some  cut  the  anchor  cables,  while  others 


332  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

loosed  the  ropes  that  held  the  rudder  paddles.  The  sail 
bellied;  the  ship  began  to  move  toward  the  rocks;  the 
men  at  the  rudders  pulled.  Slowly,  but  with  gather- 
ing speed,  she  began  to  turn.  With  a  great  sigh  of 
relief  the  people  saw  her  bows  swing  away  from  the 
precipice  toward  the  creek.  Behind  them  the  galloping 
waves  drove  her;  but  to  their  right,  from  behind  a  little 
island,  another  sea  ran  into  the  bay,  the  two  meeting 
at  the  creek.  There  between  these  currents  the  ship 
moved  on,  till  she  ran  aground.  Her  bows  stuck  fast 
in  the  fine  mud.  Her  stern  was  buffeted  and  broken 
with  the  force  of  the  waves. 

As  though  the  perils  of  the  sea  were  not  hard 
enough,  the  Roman  soldiers,  who  knew  the  penalties 
they  would  suffer  if  the  prisoners  escaped,  gathered 
round-  Julius,  the  centurion,  and  pointing  to  Paul, 
Luke,  and  Aristarchus,  and  the  other  prisoners,  said, 
with  hands  on  their  sword-hilts: 

"  Let  us  kill  the  prisoners,  lest  any  of  them  should 
swim  out  and  escape." 

Julius  might  have  been  willing  enough  in  the  ordi- 
nary way,  but  the  fascination  of  Paul  had  gripped 
him,  as  we  know.  So,  for  the  sake  of  Paul,  he  gave 
them  orders  not  to  kill  the  prisoners. 

"  Go,"  he  shouted  to  the  people,  "  and  let  all  who 
can  swim  throw  themselves  into  the  sea." 

They  threw  themselves  over  the  side,-  some  hesi- 
tating, others  plunging  in  without  fear.  Those  who 
could  not  swim  seized  boards  and  pieces  of  the  ship 
which  had  been  broken  by  the  wrench  of  the  waves. 

The  galloping  breakers  racing  toward  the  beach 
caught  them  and  drove  them  shoreward.    If  they  had 


THE    SHIPWRECK    AT    MALTA 
Paul  helping  an  old  man  ashore. 


SHIPWRECK  333 

been  driven  a  few  feet  to  either  side  they  would  have 
been  crushed  to  death  on  the  rocks.  As  it  was  they 
were  hurled  on  to  the  sand,  buffeted  and  breathless  but 
safe. 

"  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  they  escaped  all  safe 
to  land." 


XXXIV 

THE  CASTOR  AND  POLLUX 

THROWN  up  like  driftwood  on  the  grey  shore, 
they  saw  island  natives  coming  down  toward 
them.  Battered  with  the  tempest  and  feeble 
from  the  long  fortnight  without  proper  food,  not 
even  Julius  and  his  soldiers  were  fit  to  fight  for  their 
lives  if  the  natives  were  to  attack  them.  Behind  them 
sounded  the  boom  of  the  waves  and  the  crashing  of 
the  fast-breaking  ship;  before  them  were  the  ap- 
proaching natives;  beneath  them  the  barren  beach; 
above  them  dark  clouds  mercilessly  pelting  their  tired, 
shivering  bodies  with  icy  rain. 

The  natives  scattered  and  came  on  again  carrying 
sticks  in  their  hands;  not  for  fighting,  however,  but 
for  fire.  They  threw  the  sticks  together  in  a  sheltered 
place  and  then,  crouching  over  to  protect  the  sparks 
from  the  drenching  rain,  lighted  a  fire.  With  friendly 
gestures  and  with  smiles  they  now  welcomed  the  ship- 
wrecked people  to  warm  and  dry  themselves.  Re- 
joicing at  his  kindness,  one  and  another  of  the  party 
went  off  and  came  back  again  with  more  sticks  to  keep 
the  fire  going.  Among  these  was  Paul — who  was  keen 
now,  as  he  had  been  throughout,  on  keeping  up  the 
spirits  of  the  soldiers,  sailors,  and  passengers. 

As  he  came  back  with  an  armful  of  sticks  and  placed 
them  on  the  fire,  one  of  the  sticks  seemed  to  come  to 

834 


THE  CASTOR  AND  POLLUX  335 

life.  It  shone  in  moving  curves,  and,  before  Paul  could 
escape,  with  a  quick  dart  the  viper  fastened  on  his 
hand.  Its  poisonous  fangs  shot  through  his  skin,  and 
as  he  lifted  his  hand  up  the  venomous  beast  hung  there. 

Every  eye  was  on  Paul.  The  natives  saw  the  chain 
of  the  prisoner  hanging  from  his  wrist  and  the  viper 
hanging  from  his  hand. 

"  A  murderer !  "  they  whispered.  "  He  has  escaped 
from  the  sea;  but  the  vengeance  of  the  gods  will  not 
let  him  live." 

Paul  shook  his  hand  violently.  The  viper  relaxed 
his  hold  and  fell  back  into  the  blazing  fire.  The 
natives  watched  Paul  to  see  the  poison  swell  his  hand 
and  arm  and  body,  as  they  knew  a  viper's  poison 
would;  and  to  see  him  fall  down  dead.  They  looked 
and  looked  again — watching  for  a  long  time.  But 
nothing  happened.  Paul  seemed  entirely  unaffected. 
They  were  perplexed :  then  talking  to  one  another 
they  swiftly  changed  their  minds.  This  man  whom 
the  very  serpents  could  not  harm,  whom  could  he  be  ? 
He  must  be  a  god.  A  murderer  one  hour,  a  god  the 
next;  so  their  simple  minds  worked,  leaping  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other. 

The  wrecked  crew  found  that  they  had  been  ship- 
wrecked on  the  island  of  Malta.  Some  of  the  sailors 
had  harboured  at  the  island  many  times  before,  for  it 
was  on  their  regular  sea-route.  But  they  had  not 
recognized  it  earlier,  for  the  bay  in  which  they  were 
shipwrecked  was  on  an  entirely  unfamiliar  side  of 
the  island,  far  from  the  big  harbour.  Fortunately  the 
governor  of  the  whole  island,  named  Publius,  had  his 
lands  in  the  very  part  of  Malta  on  which  they  had 


336  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

been  wrecked.  He  invited  them  to  his  home  and 
took  them  in — feeding  and  lodging  them,  and  giving 
them  all  the  attention  that  he  possibly  could. 

They  stayed  with  him  for  three  days,  by  which 
time  the  kindness  and  the  rest,  the  good  food  and 
the  dry  shelter,  made  the  awful  weeks  of  the  tem- 
pest seem  like  a  nightmare  from  which  they  had 
awakened. 

What  return  could  they  make  to  Publius  ?  He  was 
rich,  and  they  were  all  stranded  without  any  posses- 
sions. Surely  they  could  do  nothing  except  to  thank 
him.  Yet  there  was  a  great  anxiety  on  the  mind  of 
Publius.  His  old  father  was  very  ill;  burning  with 
fever  and  weakened  by  dysentery.  Paul  heard  of  this 
and  went  into  the  room  where  the  old  man  lay  ill. 
He  kneeled  down  by  the  bedside  and  asked  God  for 
that  power  which  again  and  again  had  flowed  through 
him.  He  then  laid  his  hands  on  the  father  of  Publius; 
the  fever  left  him  and  the  wasting  disease  dried  up.^ 

Like  wildfire  the  news  was  spread  through  the  island 
of  the  great  wonder  worked  at  the  hands  of  Paul. 
Publius  had  received  more  than  he  had  given.  Others 
came  to  be  healed  from  different  parts  of  Malta. 
And  when  they  were  healed  they  paid  all  honour  to 
Paul  and  his  companions.     Again  this  strange  pris- 

*  Paul  here  again  used  that  power  of  healing  which,  we  are 
again  and  again  told,  was  exercised  by  the  early  Christians.  It 
seems  very  remote  from  us,  and  sometimes  difficult  to  believe. 
Yet  stories  come  to  us  to-day  from  the  mission  fields  of  the 
world  where  faith  is  simpler  and  more  implicit  than  at  home 
(stories  which  cannot  be  doubted),  which  show  that  similar 
works  of  healing  are  done  to-day  there. 


THE  CASTOR  AND  POLLUX  337 

oner's  greatness  had  shone  out.  He  drew  the  rever- 
ence of  men,  who  forgot  his  chains  and  only  saw  his 
wonderful  character. 

As  the  winter  drew  on  toward  spring  they  would 
go  down  to  the  great  harbour  of  Malta,  which  was 
filled  with  ships  that  had  put  in  there  during  the 
months  when  the  Mediterranean  was  "  closed  "  for 
sailing.  When  the  grey  of  the  cloud-skies  and  the 
drive  of  the  harsher  winds  melted  before  the  sum- 
mer days,  and  the  warm  wind  began  to  come  up  from 
Egypt  with  the  birds  of  spring,  the  harbour  began  to 
be  full  of  movement.  The  sailors  caulked  and  scrubbed 
the  decks,  spliced  ropes,  repaired  the  sails,  and  hoisted 
them  on  fresh  spars.  The  merchants  were  opening 
their  warehouses  and  bringing  out  the  grain  and  goods 
from  store.  The  porters  ran  over  the  gangways  and 
into  the  holds,  carrying  the  great  earthenware  jars 
of  grain  and  wine. 

Among  the  ships  in  the  harbour  was  a  great  grain 
ship  from  the  Egyptian  coast,  which  had  put  in  here 
for  the  winter  on  her  way  from  Alexandria  to  Italy. 
On  her  prow  the  picture  of  two  men  was  painted — 
the  twins.  Castor  and  Pollux.  The  twins  were  gods 
whom  the  Romans  thought  of  as  their  great  protectors 
and  helpers  in  the  time  of  need.  Especially  the  sailors 
said  that,  if  the  Dioscuri  came  aboard  the  ship,  though 
invisibly,  she  would  ride  through  any  storm  safe  to 
harbour. 

One  of  the  great  Roman  writers,  Epictetus,  who 
himself  did  not  put  faith  in  the  twins,  told  the  people 
to  have  the  faith  in  God  which  the  sailors  had  in 
Castor  and  Pollux.     He  says : 


338  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

"  Be  mindful  of  God,  call  Him  to  be  thy  helper  and  defender, 
as  men  call  upon  the  Dioscuri  in  a  storm."  ^ 

When  the  master  and  the  captain  of  the  ship,  and 
Julius  with  the  soldiers  and  the  sailors,  saw  a  great 
Roman  vessel  in  harbour  with  that  name  upon  her, 
they  would  remember  their  shipwreck,  and  would  wish 
to  sail  on  a  ship  with  such  a  name  of  good-fortune  as 
the  Castor  and  Pollux.  They  took  passage  on  board, 
and,  once  more,  after  these  months  on  Malta, 
they  found  themselves  with  the  swing  of  the  waves 
under  their  feet  and  their  faces  turned  toward 
Rome. 

From  Malta  to  Sicily,  where  they  dropped  anchor 
in  the  harbour  of  Syracuse,  was  a  short  sail.  After 
three  days  there — probably  loading  and  unloading 
cargo — they  sailed  out  again  to  find  themselves  in  the 
teeth  of  an  unfavourable  wind.  After  much  tacking 
they  ran  into  Rhegium,  the  city  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Straits  of  Messina  on  a  strip  of  land  under  the  shadow 
of  the  great  brown  mountain  range  that  runs  down 
to  form  the  toe  of  Italy. 

They  had  to  wait  only  a  single  day  in  Rhegium 
harbour  for  the  breeze  that  they  wanted,  for  the  wind 
veered  round  to  the  south  and  they  were  able  to  hoist 
sails  and  run  swiftly  northward. 

It  was  the  last  stage  of  the  long  perilous  journey, 
since  the  day  when,  in  the  autumn  of  the  previous 
year,  they  had  slipped  out  of  the  harbour  of  Caesarea. 
The  very  ship  seemed  to  rejoice.  She  lay  herself  out 
to  complete  the  race  with  a  great  final  sprint.  The 
coast  of  Italy  slipped  past  on  their  right  as  the  Castor 

'  Epictetus  Enchiridion,  33. 


THE  CASTOR  AND  POLLUX  339 

and  Pollux  ploughed  through  the  waters  that  leapt 
from  her  side  and  left  a  shining  wake  behind  her. 

Riding  the  seas  like  a  queen,  she  shook  the  spray 
from  her  prow; 

"  Making  the  blue  hills  of  the  sea  divide, 
Shearing  a  glittering  scatter  in  her  stride, 
And  leaping  on  full  tilt  with  all  sails  drawing 
Proud  as  a  war-horse,  snuffing  battle,  pawing."  ^ 

At  last  they  saw,  over  the  starboard  bow,  a  dark 
pall  of  smoke  rising  from  a  mountain-top. 

"  Vesuvius,"  said  the  sailors  to  the  travellers.  They 
had  already  passed  Etna  and  Stromboli,  and  knew 
these  strange  fire-mountains  which  sometimes  threw 
out  blazing  lava  and  red-hot  stones. 

As  they  turned  into  that  loveliest  bay  in  the  Roman 
world,^  they  saw,  under  the  very  foot  of  the  smoking 
mountain,  the  gleam  of  white  temples  in  the  sun,  and 
on  the  beach  the  gay  life  of  a  brilliant  and  lovely 
Roman  pleasure  city.  Yet  within  thirty  years  of  Paul's 
passing  that  mountain  was  to  pour  down  her  sides 
hideous  streams  of  burning  lava,  which  would  over- 
whelm this  city  of  Pompeii. 

The  Castor  and  Pollux,  with  Pompeii  on  her  star- 
board, sailed  northward  up  the  bay  till,  in  the  north- 
east corner,  she  rounded  the  mole  of  the  inner  bay  o^ 
Puteoli.  Exercising  the  proud  right  which  she  pos- 
sessed, as  a  member  of  the  great  Alexandria-Puteoli 
fleet,  she  sailed  right  into  harbour  with  her  topsails 
still  unfurled. 

^  "  Dauber,"  by  John  Masefield. 

"  The  Bay  of  Naples,  as  we  call  it  now. 


340  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

With  a  creaking  of  cordage  and  a  rush,  the  sailors 
furled  her  mainsail,  her  topsail,  and  her  foresail;  the 
anchor  splashed,  the  rudder  paddles  were  raised  and 
strapped, 

Paul,  standing  at  the  bow,  would  see,  curving  up 
over  the  ridge  of  the  hills,  the  white,  busy  pavement 
of  the  road  to  Rome. 


XXXV 

ON    THE    APPIAN    WAY 

"T  T  is  the  Castor  and  Pollux,"  one  old  sailor  on  the 

I  quay  at  Puteoli  would  say  to  another  as  the 
Alexandrian  grain  ship  ran  into  the  harbour. 

They  would  know  her  well,  as  the  ships  belonging 
to  the  fleet  of  provision-vessels  ran  regularly  to  and 
from  Puteoli  and  Alexandria.  But  there  would  be  a 
new  stir  of  eagerness  among  the  loungers  on  the  quay 
that  would  soon  spread  to  the  town,  when  it  was  noised 
among  them  that  there  were  prisoners  on  board  from 
the  far-away  province  of  Syria  and  Judsea. 

As  the  prisoners  and  the  centurion  Julius  with  his 
other  soldiers  came  off  the  ship,  a  group  of  men 
crowded  round  Paul  with  eager,  friendly  smiles. 
They  had  never  seen  him  before,  but  they  knew  hi? 
name  from  friends — like  Priscilla  and  Aquila  who  had 
known  Paul  in  Athens  and  Corinth  and  Ephesus, 
and  who  now  were  living  in  Rome. 

"  Do  stay  with  us,"  they  pleaded.  And  Paul,  whose 
courage  and  strong  help  on  board  the  wrecked  ship 
had  made  Julius  think  more  of  him  than  ever,  was  able 
to  persuade  the  centurion  to  stay  for  a  few  days  at 
Puteoli.  It  is  likely  that  Julius  would  not  need  much 
persuading,  for  this  was  the  first  Roman  city  that  he 
had  been  in  for  a  long  time,  and  he  would  be  eager 
to  hear  the  talk  about  the  young  Emperor  Nero  and  his 

341 


342  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

cruelties;  and  all  the  gossip  of  the  army.  He  would 
be  glad,  also,  to  go  again  to  the  amphitheatre  at 
Puteoli  and  watch  the  play. 

Meanwhile,  the  group  of  Christians  went  off  in 
triumph  with  Paul  to  sit  with  him  in  their  homes,  to 
hear  him  speak  of  the  great  things  that  had  happened 
to  him  and  to  the  Brethren — as  all  the  worshippers  of 
Christ  then  called  one  another — in  Achaia  and  Mace- 
donia, in  Asia  and  in  the  far-away  cities  on  the  edge 
of  the  Roman  world — Antioch  and  Damascus  and 
Jerusalem.  Seven  days  passed  like  a  flash,  and  it 
seemed  impossible  to  believe  that  at  last  they  must 
wrench  themselves  away  from  Paul. 

Before  he  started,  however,  they  would  tell  him 
of  the  cruel  power  of  Rome,  of  how  young  Nero, 
throned  as  Emperor,  was  beginning  to  kill  everyone 
who  stood  in  the  way  of  his  whims,  and  had  even 
slain  his  own  mother,  Agrippina,  only  last  year^;  of 
the  gladiators,  kept  and  trained  simply  to  kill  one 
another;  and  of  the  slaves  brought  from  far-away 
places — from  Syria  and  Spain — and  strange  slaves 
were  beginning  to  come  from  savage  islands  far,  far 
over  the  Alps  and  beyond  even  Gaul,  called  "  Britain." 
The  Britons  made  splendid  gladiators  to  fight  the  lions. 

Paul  turned  his  back  upon  the  sea,  and  with  his 
fellow-travellers  climbed  the  Consular  Way,  over  the 
hills  behind  Puteoli. 

He  felt  proud  to  be  a  Roman  citizen;  for  Roman 
rule,  even  though  it  was  often  cruel  and  hard,  was 
generally  just  and  strong.  Every  nerve  in  Paul's  body 
tingled  at  the  courage  of  Rome,  the  daring  that  had 

*  59.    Paul  probably  reached  Rome  in  February,  60. 


ON  THE  APPIAN  WAY  343 

spread  the  rule  of  those  few  people  on  the  hills  of  the 
Tiber  right  over  the  whole  world  of  that  day.  It  was 
just  in  line  with  his  own  world-embracing  courage. 
But  he  wished  with  even  a  greater  daring  to  draw  all 
the  people  in  that  Roman  empire  into  the  way  of 
Christ,  from  the  barbarians  of  the  islands  of  the  North 
Sea  to  the  black-skinned  Ethiopian  of  Africa,  and  from 
the  mighty  pillars  of  Heliopolis  in  Syria  to  the  pillars 
of  Hercules  that  guarded  the  western  gate  of  the 
Mediterranean.  His  audacious  thought  leapt  across 
"  the  flaming  ramparts  of  the  world,"  for  he  dared 
to  dream  of  founding  an  unseen  kingdom  of  the  Spirit 
over  all  the  earth,  not  by  the  sword,  but  by  heroic  love; 
Jesus  Christ  throned  above  emperors  and  kings,  consuls 
and  generals.     That  was  Paul's  ambition. 

These  thoughts  must  have  surged  like  a  stormy 
sea  in  the  mind  of  the  chained  but  conquering  Paul 
as  he  strode  along  the  Way.  One  hundred  and  seventy 
miles  of  that  road  lay  between  himself  and  the  great 
city.  When  they  had  trudged  on  for  nineteen  miles 
they  saw  to  the  right  the  Via  Appia  climbing  over  the 
hills  from  Brundisium,  and  joining  their  own  road 
at  Capua,  where  they  would  rest  for  the  night.  Again 
they  went  on  till  the  road  dropped  and  then  ceased 
altogether,  for  before  them  lay  a  dismal  marsh  of 
reeds,  through  which  a  canal  had  been  cut.  Julius 
took  a  barge,  and  he  with  his  company  sailed  and  were 
towed  by  mules  through  these  Pontine  Marshes.  As 
night  fell  the  gnats  of  the  marshes  came  buzzing 
around  them  and  stinging,  and  all  through  the  dark 
the  great  frogs  croaked  continuously.* 

*  Horace,  Satires  I,  v. 


344  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

Strong  as  he  was,  Paul  sometimes  fell  into  deep 
sadness.  It  came  over  him  in  these  marshes.  The 
malaria  of  the  place  may  have  infected  his  body  and 
depressed  his  spirit.  Luke,  as  he  walked  by  Paul's 
side,  watching  him  with  the  love  of  a  brother  and  the 
skilled  eye  of  a  physician,  saw  this  growing  gloom  and 
was  troubled  by  it. 

After  they  had  landed  from  the  barge  at  the  north 
end  of  the  canal  through  the  marshes,  and  were  once 
more  on  the  road,  Paul  and  Luke  and  the  others  saw, 
on  the  Way,  a  band  of  men  hurrying  toward  them. 
The  men  were  beginning  to  salute  the  party  of  travel- 
lers. Yes,  indeed,  it  was  a  group  of  Christians  who 
had  hurried  out  for  forty-three  miles  along  the  Via 
Appia  to  meet  Paul  at  the  Appii  Forum — a  travellers' 
resting-town.  It  may  well  be  that  old  friends  of  his 
were  there,  Aquila,  for  instance,  and  John  Mark,  who 
had  parted  with  him  in  anger  thirteen  years  before, 
but  was  now  his  friend  again. 

What  a  change  Luke  noticed  in  Paul  as  they  met 
these  friends!  His  stride  was  firm  and  strong  again; 
his  eye  lighted.  It  was  the  miracle  of  the  power 
of  friendship.  And  Luke  wrote  it  down  that  when 
Paul  saw  them 

"He  thanked  God  and  took  courage." 

Between  the  town  of  the  Appii  Forum  and  the  city 
of  Rome  another  group  of  friends  met  Paul  at  the 
Three  Shops,^  where  there  were  a  general  store,  a 
blacksmith's  forge  for  shoeing  any  horse  that  might 

^  Tres  Tabernse. 


ON  THE  APPIAN  WAY  345 

have  cast  a  shoe  on  the  stone-way,  and  a  refreshment- 
house. 

At  last  the  long  white  road  crossed  the  shoulder 
of  the  Alban  Mount.  Right  and  left  the  road  was 
lined  with  glittering  marble  towers  and  monuments, 
the  tombs  of  noble  Roman  men  and  women;  but,  at 
that  moment,  Paul  had  no  eyes  for  these.  On  his 
right  the  great  Aqueduct  gleamed  in  the  light,  as  it 
ran  on  its  thousand  arches  from  the  Latin  Hills  across 
the  plain.  His  companions  would  tell  Paul  that  it 
was  only  finished  ten  years  ago,  and  woMd  speak  of 
the  thousands  of  slaves  who  had  toiled  to  build  it; 
yet  they  could  not  draw  his  look  to  the  wonderful  - 
work.  Paul  was  not  captured  even  by  the  glory  of 
the  Sabine  Hills  that  rose  in  the  fresh  green  of  spring 
away  to  the  right,  and  behind  them  the  gigantic  ram- 
part of  the  Appennines. 

His  eyes  travelled  down  the  Way,  stretched  in 
front  of  him  for  twelve  miles,  straight  and  taut  as 
a  strong  bow-line.  For  at  the  end,  crowning  her 
seven  hills  with  marble  temple  and  Imperial  Palace, 
stood  the  Capital  of  the  World,  whose  rule  ranged 
from  Jerusalem  to  Spain,  and  from  Africa  and  across 
the  Alps  and  the  forests  of  Europe  to  the  savage  islands 
of  Britain.     Paul  saw  Rome. 

Years  before  this  day,  he  had  written  to  his  friends, 
"  I  must  see  Rome."  For  his  far-seeing  brain  told  him 
that,  to  capture  Rome  for  his  Christ,  was  to  hold  the 
key  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole  world  of  his  day. 
And  what  his  eye  saw  his  heart  dared.  He  turned  the  \ 
stumbling-block  of  imprisonment  into  the  stepping-  \ 
stone  of  world-conquest  when  he  said,  "  I  appeal  to  i 


346  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

Caesar."  And  now,  when  he  came  over  the  Alban 
Mount  on  the  Appian  Way,  his  burning  ambition  was 
realised. 

His  body  was  chained,  but  his  mind  flew  along  the 
road  to  Rome.  Aquila  or  Mark,  or  one  of  the  others 
who  had  come  out  to  meet  him,  would  point  to  the 
great  Palace  of  the  Caesars  on  the  hill  that  was  the 
heart  of  Rome — the  palaces  that  Augustus  Tiberius 
and  Caligula  had  built.  Beyond  the  palaces,  and 
above  the  valley  where  the  Forum  lay,  stood  out  the 
Citadel  of  Rome  on  the  Capitoline  Hill. 

The  travellers  passed  the  tombs  of  the  son  of  Lars 
Porsena  of  Clusium,  and  of  a  hundred  Other  great 
iRomans;  and  the  shining  Temple  of  Hercules.  Then 
they  went  down  the  slope  of  the  hill  and  crossed  the 
sacred  stream  of  Almo,  down  which — the  Roman 
legend  said — the  babies  Romulus  and  Remus  had 
floated  in  their  wicker  basket  into  the  Tiber  to  the  foot 
of  the  hill  on  which  they  founded  Rome.  At  last, 
Paul  passed  under  the  new  Arch  of  Drusus  and  was 
beneath  the  shadow  of  the  very  wall  of  Rome.  His 
footsteps  rang  on  the  stones  under  the  arch  of  the 
Capena  gate.    He  was  in  Rome. 

The  multitudes  of  Rome  thronged  the  streets.  The 
crowds  stood  aside  as  Julius  led  his  band  of  prisoners 
up  the  slope  of  the  Cselian  Hill  to  the  Camp  of  the 
Foreign  Legion.  There  was  the  clatter  of  arms,  the 
salute,  the  words  of  explanation,  and  Paul  was  in  the 
keeping  of  the  Praetor,^  the  prisoner  of  the  Emperor 
Nero. 

^  Praetor  peregrinorum. 


PAUL  ON  THE  APPIAN  WAY 


XXXVI 
"  MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD  " 

THE  sharp  rattle  of  armour  fell  upon  the  ears  of 
Paul  when  he  awoke  next  morning.  Looking 
up  he  saw  the  Roman  soldier  who  was  to  guard 
him.  The  spring  sunlight  coming  through  the  door- 
way glinted  on  the  guard's  crested  brazen  helmet  and 
on  the  breastplate  and  greaves,  while  the  short  broad- 
sword with  which  the  victories  of  Rome  were  won 
hung  from  a  belt  bound  around  the  soldier's  tunic. 

As  at  Csesarea  so  in  Rome  Paul  was  always  to  be 
guarded  by  a  soldier.  He  was  free,  however,  to  live 
in  his  own  hired  house,  though  at  every  movement 
Paul  was  reminded  by  the  clink  of  the  chain  on  his 
wrist  that  he  was  a  prisoner. 

He  awoke  for  the  first  time  in  the  city  of  which 
he  had  dreamed  for  years,  heard  the  hum  of  its  busy 
streets,  and,  as  he  went  out  into  the  sunshine,  saw 
the  palace  upon  the  hill  from  which  the  world  was 
ruled.  He  went  out  to  look  at  Rome  that  first  day, 
perhaps  to  choose  a  house  in  which  he  would  live.  If 
so  he  probably  passed  the  theatre  of  Marcellus  and 
crossed  the  bridge  of  Fabricius  ^  under  which  the 
sullen  yellow  Tiber  ran,  full  of  the  rains  of  early 
spring.    The  middle  of  the  bridge  rested  on  an  island. 

Paul  would  see  that  many  who  passed  and  met  him 

^  This  bridge,  still  standing,  is  the  oldest  bridge  in  Rome. 

347 


348  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

as  he  crossed  Fabricius'  Bridge  were  of  his  own  race. 
Over  the  river  he  found  the  Jewish  quarter.  He 
discovered  his  old  friends  Priscilla  the  Roman,  with 
her  Jewish  husband,  Aquila,  possibly  in  the  Jewish 
quarter,  but  more  probably  on  the  Aventine  Hill, 
carrying  on  their  and  his  handicraft  as  tent-makers.^ 
Paul  then  rented  his  house  possibly  near  that  of  his 
friends. 

Three  days  later  he  sent  word  to  the  leading  Jews 
saying  that  he  would  like  to  talk  with  them.  They 
came  to  him  and  sat  on  the  floor  together,  waiting  for 
him  to  speak,  with  the  wondering  soldier  listening, 
although  he  could  understand  little  enough  of  what  was 
going  on.  Probably  Aristarchus  was  there  and  Luke, 
who  recorded  what  he  heard.  Paul  wished  the  men  of 
his  .own  race  to  know  why  he  was  a  prisoner  in  Rome. 

"  Brothers,"  he  began,  "  although  I  have  done 
nothing  against  our  people  or  our  ancestral  customs, 
I  was  handed  over  to  the  Romans  as  a  prisoner  from 
Jerusalem.  They  meant  to  release  me  after  exami- 
nation, as  I  was  innocent  of  any  crime  that  deserved 
death.  But  the  Jews  objected,  and  so  I  was  obliged 
to  appeal  to  Caesar — not  that  I  had  any  charge  to  bring 
against  my  own  nation.  This  is  my  reason  for  asking 
to  see  you  and  have  a  word  with  you." 

Then  he  lifted  up  his  hand  and  shook  the  chain 
that  dangled  from  his  wrist. 

"  I  am,"  he  said,  "  wearing  this  chain  because  I  share 
Israel's  hope." 

"  We  have  had  no  letters  about  you  from  Judaea," 

*  There  is  a  tradition  that  Priscilla  and  Aquila  lived  on  the 
Aventine  Hill  on  the  Roman  side  of  the  river. 


«  MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD  "      849 

they  replied,  "  and  no  brother  has  come  here  with 
any  bad  report  or  story  about  you.  We  think  it  only 
right  to  let  you  tell  your  own  story.  But,  as  regards 
this  sect  of  yours,  we  are  well  aware  that  there  are 
objections  to  it  on  all  hands." 

Any  letters  that  may  have  been  written  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Rome  about  Paul  may  have  gone  down  with 
the  ship  from  Myra  on  the  Malta  coast.  As  there 
was  not  time  to  carry  on  any  full  discussion  then  and 
there,  they  arranged  to  come  one  morning  and  spend 
all  day  in  discussion  with  Paul. 

They  fixed  the  day  and  came  to  his  quarters  in 
large  numbers.  Paul  explained  what  the  Reign  of 
God  meant,  and  tried  to  persuade  them  about  Jesus 
from  the  Law  of  Moses  and  from  the  Prophets.  Some 
were  quite  convinced  by  what  Paul  said ;  others  argued. 
All  day  they  talked,  with  intervals  when  they  would 
take  some  dried  fruit  and  bread  together.  At  last 
the  day  was  gone  and  the  stars  came  out,  but  still 
they  could  not  agree  among  themselves.  Paul  was 
weary  and  felt  disappointed  that  here  again  his  most 
difficult  task  was  in  dealing  with  the  Jews  themselves. 
As  they  were  moving  to  leave  the  house  he  broke  out 
into  one  last  word. 

"  It  was  an  apt  word,"  he  said,  "  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  spoke  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  to  your  fathers, 
when  he  said: 

" '  Go  and  tell  this  people, 

You  will  hear  and  hear  but  never  understand, 
You  will  see  and  see  and  never  perceive. 
For  the  heart  of  this  people  is  obtuse, 
Their  ears  are  heavy  of  hearing. 


350  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

Their  eyes  they  have  closed, 

Lest  they  see  with  their  eyes  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
Lest  they  understand  with  their  heart  and  turn  again,  and 
I  cure  them.' 

"  Be  sure  of  this,"  he  went  on,  "  that  this  salvation 
of  God  has  been  sent  to  the  Nations.  They  " — and 
his  free  hand  pointed  across  Rome — "  they  will  listen 
to  it." 

So  the  Jews  went  out;  and  Paul  turned  toward 
the  men  of  many  nations  who  lived  in  Rome, 
the  men  whom  he  saw  as  he  walked  in  the  streets 
and  crossed  the  bridges  and  trod  the  Forum  with  his 
guard. 

As  he  walked  from  his  house  Paul  saw  here  a 
gang  of  slaves  lurching  along  to  lay  bricks  in  a  new 
building  which  Nero  was  placing  on  the  side  of  the 
Palatine  Hill;  there  a  Greek  merchant  from  Corinth 
hurrying  by,  his  mind  full  of  the  prices  of  the  fruit 
which  he  had  just  landed  at  the  wharves.  As  he 
crossed  the  bridge  Paul  saw,  by  the  Tiber,  the  ship- 
porters — negroes,  Gauls,  Britons,  Belgians,  Spaniards 
— running  with  bare  feet  to  and  fro  across  the  gang- 
ways from  the  ships  to  the  warehouses,  with  boxes 
of  spices,  dates,  and  raisins,  crates  of  early  oranges, 
jars  of  wine,  sacks  of  wheat;  marble  slabs,  cheeses, 
silks — the  produce  of  the  East  and  West  all  brought  to 
the  hub  of  the  world. 

He  went  through  many  narrow  streets  where  the 
houses  were  huddled  together  and  built  of  wood  on 
brick  foundations.  In  a  corner  he  would  see  young 
fellows  throwing  dice,  their  eyes  feverishly  glaring 
at  the  tiny  squares  as  they  laid  their  stakes,  heedless 


"MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD"      351 

of  the  throngs  of  people  who  lingered  or  hastened  by. 
As  Paul  neared  the  Palatine  Hill,  on  which  the  gor- 
geous palaces  of  the  Emperor  Nero  stood,  he  would 
see  here  a  Roman  noble  on  his  horse,  there  a  swaying 
litter,  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  slaves;  and  as  the 
breeze  caught  the  silken  curtains  of  the  litter,  and 
blew  them  aside,  Paul  would  see  the  proud  face  and 
rich  auburn  hair  of  a  high-born  Roman  lady. 

Passing  round  the  side  of  the  Palatine  Hill  Paul's 
eyes  looked  down  the  splendid  pavements  of  the  Forum, 
the  greatest  glory  of  Rome,  with  its  forest  of  gleam- 
ing columns,  its  mighty  arches  on  which  the  story 
of  the  victories  of  the  armies  of  Rome  was  carved, 
its  cool  colonnades  whose  marbles  shimmered  in  the 
reflected  light  from  the  splashing  fountains.  Among* 
the  columns  under  the  portico  of  a  temple  he  would 
see  groups  of  men  discussing  the  rebellion  of  a 
distant  frontier  tribe,  or  the  newest  lecture  by 
Seneca. 

Farther  on  in  the  Forum  he  would  see  some  young 
dandies  of  Rome  lounging  and  discussing  the  latest 
scandal  about  the  wild  young  emperor,  while  others 
gathered  round  some  carved  lines  on  the  steps  on 
which  they  were  following  a  gambling  game.  Beyond 
these  again,  on  his  right,  Paul  saw  a  cloistered  place 
within  which  was  a  beautiful  pool  of  water;  and  beside 
the  cloister  stood  a  circular  temple  from  the  centre 
of  whose  pointed  roof  a  thin  trail  of  smoke  rose  and 
lazily  drifted  away.  These  lovely  buildings  were  the 
temple  and  cloisters  of  the  Vestal  Virgins,  who  tended 
the  sacred  fire  which  burned  perpetually  through  the 
centuries. 


352  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

In  that  same  Forum  he  saw  a  pillar  like  a  shaft  of 
sunshine.  It  was  covered  entirely  with  gold.  From 
that  pillar,  along  the  arrow-straight  Roman  roads,  men 
measured  their  distance  from  Rome,  whether  they 
lived  in  Damascus  or  Chester,  on  the  Nile,  or  the 
Euphrates,  the  Danube  or  the  Seine;  or  dwelt  at 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  or  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Hellespont. 

It  was  in  this  Rome  of  golden  palaces  and  festering 
slums,  of  free  bread  and  circuses,  gladiator  fights  and 
wild  beast  shows,  this  Imperial  Eternal  City  whose 
strong  rule,  sometimes  tyrannous  but  generally  just, 
made  the  whole  Mediterranean  its  lake,  that  Paul  lived 
out  his  days  for  two  years,  unmolested  and  unhindered 
as  he  spoke  and  wrote  in  his  home  or  among  the 
soldiers. 

The  months  went  by,  but  Paul's  trial  was  not  held. 
The  distance  to  Jerusalem  and  Csesarea  for  getting 
evidence  was  great,  and  in  any  case  the  law  moved 
slowly.  Paul's  name  went  through  the  city.  Men 
and  women  came  to  him  from  the  very  house  of  Caesar 
himself  to  learn  of  the  Way.  But  there  also  came  to 
him  the  common  people — and  slaves.  They  were  all 
equal  before  him. 

Beside  the  Romans  and  the  slaves  whom  he  saw, 
Paul  had  about  him  some  of  his  best  friends — Luke 
and  Aristarchus,  who  had  come  with  him  from 
Csesarea;  Timothy  who  had  rejoined  him  from  the 
shores  of  the  ^gean;  John  Mark,  from  whom  he  had 
parted  so  many  years  before,  and  who  was  now  a 


"MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD"      353 

close  friend;   Epaphras,  a  fellow-prisoner,  and  new 
friends  like  young  Demas. 

One  day  Paul  was  delighted,  as  the  door  of  his 
house  was  darkened  by  the  entrance  of  a  man,  to 
look  into  the  face  of  his  old  friend  Epaphroditus.  He 
had  come  right  along  the  Egnatian  Way  from  Philippi, 
across  the  Adriatic  Sea  from  Dyrrachium  to  Brun- 
disium,  and  thence  along  the  Appian  Way  to  Rome. 
Epaphroditus  carried  with  him  a  bag  with  a  gift  from 
the  friends  in  Philippi  to  Paul,  who  was  full  of  joy, 
not  only  at  seeing  his  friend  and  receiving  the  gift, 
but  at  knowing  that  the  Brothers  in  Philippi,  so  far 
from  forgetting  him,  still  loved  him  and  longed  to 
see  him. 

But  Epaphroditus  fell  ill  in  Rome  so  that  Paul  was 
afraid  that  he  would  die.  However  he  recovered,  and 
Paul,  when  Epaphroditus  was  well,  began  to  dictate 
a  letter  to  the  people  at  Philippi,  which  Timothy  sat 
and  wrote  out  with  his  reed  pen  on  the  long  roll  of 
papyrus. 

"  Through  the  whole  praetorian  guard,"  said  Paul, 
"  and  everywhere  else  it  is  recognised  that  I  am  a 
prisoner  on  account  of  my  connection  with  Christ .  .  . 
The  outcome  of  all  this  I  know  will  be  my  release  .  .  . 
My  eager  desire  and  hope  is  that  I  may  never  feel 
ashamed,  but  that  now  as  ever  I  may  do  honour  to 
Christ  in  my  own  person  by  fearless  courage!  .  .  . 
Stand  firm  in  a  common  spirit,  fighting  side  by  side 
like  one  man  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  Never  be 
scared  for  a  second  by  your  opponents." 

Then  he  talks  to  them  about  Epaphroditus,  who  is 
going  to  carry  this  letter  back  to  PhiHppi. 


354  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

"  Epaphroditus  is  my  brother,  my  fellow-worker, 
my  fellow-soldier,  and  your  messenger  to  meet  my 
wants,"  writes  Paul.  "  I  think  it  necessary  to  send 
him  at  once,  for  he  has  been  yearning  for  you  all. 
He  has  been  greatly  concerned  because  you  heard  he 
was  ill.  And  he  was  ill,  nearly  dead  with  illness.  .  .  . 
So  I  am  especially  eager  to  send  him,  that  you  may 
be  glad  when  you  see  him  again.  .  .  .  Value  men 
like  that,  for  he  nearly  died  in  the  service  of  Christ 
by  risking  his  life  to  get  to  me." 

And  he  ends  up  the  letter: 

"  The  brothers  beside  me  salute  you.  All  the  saints 
salute  you,  especially  those  of  the  Imperial  household." 

So  though  Paul  was  chained,  the  fetters  could  not 
tether  his  free  spirit.  He  sent  across  the  seas,  to  the 
men  whom  he  loved,  words  that  no  executioner  could 
kill  and  no  persecution  stamp  out.  His  pen  was 
mightier  than  even  Rome's  sword. 

Paul  greatly  wished  to  help  his  old  friends  across 
the  ^gean  Sea  in  Ephesus,  as  well  as  those  whom  he 
had  never  seen  up  the  Lycus  Valley  at  Colossse  and 
at  Laodicea.  So  he  dictated  letters  to  those  two  ^ 
places  also,  possibly  even  before  that  to  the  church  of 
Philippi.  The  letters  were  alike  in  some  parts;  but 
other  parts  were  different,  so  that  the  words  would 
help  the  people  who  read  them  in  their  special  difficul- 
ties. He  also  sent  to  a  friend  in  Colossse  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  human — as  well  as  humorous — 
letters  that  he  ever  wrote.  It  was  to  plead  for  a  young 
runaway  slave  who  had  come  to  Paul. 

* "  Ephesians  "  was  probably  a  circular  or  "  open  "  letter  for 
his  Asian  churches. 


"MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD"      356 

Onesimus  had  run  away  from  his  master,  Philemon, 
of  Colossse.  He  had  stolen  some  of  his  master's  goods. 
When  Onesimus  reached  Rome,  by  some  strange  cir- 
cumstance, he  met  Paul.  His  whole  life  was  changed. 
Paul  led  the  slave  Onesimus  into  a  wonderful  freedom, 
the  liberty  of  the  Reign  of  God  which  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  bring.  He  now  felt  sure  that  he  ought  to 
go  back  and  ask  his  master's  forgiveness;  yet  he 
trembled  at  the  idea,  for  Philemon  would  have  the 
power  and  the  right  even  to  break  his  legs  as  a  punish- 
ment. It  was  decided  that  Onesimus  was  to  go 
back  to  his  master  and  take  his  chance.  Paul, 
fortunately,  knew  Philemon  of  Colossse  as  one  of  the 
men  who  had  become  a  Christian.  So  he  wrote  to 
him. 

"  As  Paul,  the  old  man,  who  nowadays  is  a  prisoner 
for  Jesus  Christ,  I  appeal  to  you  on  behalf  of  my 
spiritual  son,  born  while  I  was  in  prison.  It  is  Onesi- 
mus!^ Once  you  found  him  a  worthless  character, 
but  nowadays  he  is  worth  something  to  you  and  to 
me.  I  am  sending  him  back  to  you  and  parting  with 
my  very  heart. 

"  Perhaps  this  was  why  you  and  he  were  parted  for 
a  while,  that  you  might  get  him  back  for  good,  no 
longer  a  mere  slave,  but  something  more  than  a  slave — 
a  beloved  brother;  especially  dear  to  me,  but  how 
much  more  to  you  as  a  man  and  as  a  Christian,  .   .   . 

"  If  he  has  cheated  you  of  any  money,  or  owes  you 
any  sum,  put  that  down  to  my  account." 

^  Meaning  "  useful."  In  the  following  sentence  Paul  humor- 
ously plays  on  the  idea  that  he  has  made  Onesimus  live  up  to  his 
name. 


356  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

At  this  point  Paul  took  the  reed  from  the  hand  of 
Timothy  who  was  writing  the  letter  and  wrote  down, 
"  *  This  is  my  own  handwriting :  I,  Paul,  promise  to 
refund  it.'  " 

This  made  it  a  legally  binding  document.  But  he 
goes  on,  "  Not  to  mention  that  you  owe  me,  over  and 
above,  your  very  soul !  " 

So  Paul  pleads  for  poor  Onesimus,  who  in  company 
with  Tychicus  is  to  go  across  the  seas  back  to  Colossae. 
Paul  himself  was  hoping  to  be  freed  soon,  for  he 
writes  at  the  end  of  the  letter  to  Philemon :  "  Get 
quarters  ready  for  me,  for  I  am  hoping  that  by  your 
prayers  I  shall  be  restored  to  you." 

At  last  all  these  letters  for  the  Lycus  Valley  were 
written  and  signed,  rolled  up  and  sewn  for  safety 
into  their  canvas  cases.  Paul's  friend,  Tychicus,  proud 
to  be  chosen  for  the  difficult  and  glorious  task  of  carry- 
ing the  words  of  the  apostle  across  the  seas,  had  his 
wallet  full  of  food,  his  bottle  hanging  by  his  side, 
and  in  his  pouch  the  passage  money  for  the  ships. 
With  Onesimus  beside  him,  Tychicus  would  kneel  for 
the  blessing  of  Paul  and  a  last  prayer  for  their  journey- 
ing. They  then  left  the  house  for  their  pilgrimage. 
As  they  turned  to  take  their  last  look  at  Paul,  he  would 
wave  a  hand  to  them,  and  as  he  did  so  they  saw  the 
glint  of  the  fetter  that  bound  him  a  prisoner  of  Nero, 
an  heroic  "  ambassador  in  chains." 

Tychicus  and  Onesimus,  descending  the  Aventine 
Hill,  past  the  Circus  Maximus,  took  the  right  branch 
where  the  Ways  forked.  Leaving  the  Latin  Way 
on  their  left,  they  went  striding  down  the  Appian  Way 
and  up  the  hill,  then  along  the  leagues  of  splendid  road, 


"MIGHTIER  THAN  THE  SWORD"      357 

with  the  aqueduct  on  their  left,  the  glorious  purple 
Alban  Mount  ahead,  and  the  clear  sharpness  of  the 
morning  like  wine  in  their  veins.  Refusing  the  Puteoli 
road  on  their  right,  they  sped  along  the  Way  that  led  to 
Brundisium,  whence  a  ship  would  bear  them  across 
the  Adriatic,  down  the  sparkling  Corinth  Gulf,  and 
again  from  Cenchreae  past  Athens  and  over  the  Sea 
of  Islands  to  Ephesus.  So  they  passed  on,  leaving, 
maybe,  one  letter  at  Ephesus,  and  bearing  the  other 
precious  rolls  on  up  the  Lycus  Valley  to  Colossae. 

As  trembling  Onesimus  stood  with  bowed  head  in 
the  marble  courtyard,  while  his  master  Philemon  and 
the  gentle  lady  Apphia  read  the  letter  from  Paul,  the 
faces  of  the  master  and  mistress  would  grow  less  stern 
toward  their  runaway  slave.  They  would  forgive 
him,  because  he  was  indeed  sorry  and  had  of  his  free 
will  come  back  to  serve  them.  He  was  no  longer  the 
sullen  slave  who  did  not  live  up  to  the  meaning  of  his 
name,  Onesimus,  but  the  glad  slave  of  Christ  and 
therefore  a  happy  servant  to  his  master — a  real  "  help- 
ful "  at  last ! 

As  Tychicus  went  out  smiling  with  joy  at  this 
happy  picture  that  he  would  have  to  tell  Paul  about 
when  he  returned,  he  would  grasp  the  remaining  Colos- 
sae roll  and  go  down  to  deliver  it  to  the  elders  of  the 
church.  It  would  be  read  aloud  in  one  of  the  homes 
where  the  Brothers  met,  perhaps  in  that  of  Philemon 
himself.  They  would  hear  the  straight,  strong  words 
of  Paul. 

"  Away  with  anger,  rage,  malice,  slander,  foul  talk. 
Tell  no  lies  to  one  another.  You  have  stripped  off 
the  old  nature  with  its  behaviour  and  put  on  the  new 


368  FINISHING  THE  COURSE 

nature,  which  is  renewed  in  the  Hkeness  of  its  Creator 
for  the  Knowledge  of  Him,  In  it  there  is  no  room 
for  Greek  and  Jew,  circumcised  and  uncircumcised, 
barbarian,  Scythian,  slave  or  free  man;  Christ  is 
everything  and  everywhere." 

They  would  need  to  remember  that  last  sentence 
when  they  heard  Paul's  words  saying  that  the  run- 
away slave  Onesimus  was  "  one  of  themselves." 

"  Tychicus,  that  beloved  brother  and  faithful  min- 
ister and  fellow-servant  in  the  Lord,  will  give  you  all 
information  about  me,"  Paul  wrote.  "  The  reason 
why  I  am  sending  him  to  you  is  that  he  may  find  out 
how  you  are  and  encourage  your  hearts.  He  is  ac- 
companied by  that  faithful  and  beloved  brother,  Onesi- 
mus, who  is  one  of  yourselves.  They  will  tell  you  of 
all  that  goes  on  here  in  Rome." 

Tychicus  would  tell  them  how  Paul  lived  in  Rome, 
a  prisoner  chained  to  a  soldier,  yet  still  the  great, 
radiant,  heroic  Paul.  Then  they  would  crowd  round 
Tychicus  to  see  the  words  at  the  end  of  the  scroll  in 
a  different  handwriting. 

"  This  salutation  is  in  my  own  hand,  from  Paul. 
Remember  I  am  in  prison.    Grace  be  with  you." 


EPILOGUE 

MORE   THAN    CONQUEROR 

"  "T)  EMEMBER  I  am  in  prison."  .  .  .. 

r^        The  rest  of  Paul's  life  is  a  silence  and  his 
death  is  darkness,  where  the  whispers  and  the 
swift  gleams  of  light  only  make  the  silence  deeper  and 
the  darkness  more  impenetrable. 

We  know  that  as  the  shadows  deepened  the  daunt- 
less hero  became  more  and  more  lonely — a  solitary 
heroic  figure  in  the  darkness  before  the  dawn. 

Paul's  friends  left  him.  Demas,  the  young  com- 
panion who  promised  so  finely,  had  seen  the  glitter  and 
the  pomp  of  the  world,  and  could  not  see  the  glory 
of  the  chained  hero;  so  Demas  (Paul  sadly  wrote) 
"  in  his  love  for  this  world  has  deserted  me  and  gone 
to  Thessalonica."  One  friend,  Crescens,  was  sent 
on  an  errand  to  Gaul ;  Titus  had  crossed  the  Adriatic 
to  Dalmatia.  Only  Luke,  the  loved  physician,  still 
stood  at  Paul's  side.  They  were  comrades  to  the 
end. 

What  happened  in  the  darkness?  Was  Paul  tried 
and  declared  innocent,  set  free  for  a  little  while  to 
go  out  again  on  the  highway  of  his  adventure  for  God; 
only  to  come  back  to  face  more  dreadful  charges  under 
the  judgment  of  that  monstrous  creature,  Nero?  Or 
was  he  condemned  at  the  end  of  the  two  years  named 

359 


360  EPILOGUE 

in  Acts?  In  any  case  the  time  came  when,  as  an 
ancient  tradition  that  bears  upon  it  the  stamp  of  truth 
declares,  he  walked  out  with  firm  step  along  the  path 
of  death  to  the  place  of  the  Three  Fountains;  and  there 
laid  his  head  upon  the  block,  while  the  sword  of  the 
Roman  executioner  ended  that  dauntless  life. 

Silence  and  dense  darkness  are  over  it  all.  Yet  out 
of  the  prison,  out  of  the  silence  and  the  darkness, 
comes  a  Voice. 

It  is  the  voice  of  the  hero  who,  trembling  and 
astonished,  had  long  years  before  laid  down  the  flail 
of  the  persecutor  at  the  feet  of  his  risen  Lord  on  the 
road  to  Damascus,  and  had  in  that  hour  begun  to 
run  the  course  of  his  great  adventure;  a  course  that 
had  carried  him  up  the  steep  ascent  over  mountain  pass 
and-  by  robber  den,  under  blazing  sun  and  through 
blinding  blizzard,  travelling  on  in  peril  from  city  to 
city  across  the  Empire,  often  without  food  and  in 
rags,  labouring  with  his  own  hands,  tossed  on  the  sea 
and  shipwrecked,  stoned  by  the  Jews,  beaten  with 
Roman  rods  and  torn  with  scourges,  chained,  im- 
prisoned and  at  last  led  out  to  his  death,  yet  unafraid 
to  the  end.  And  that  valiant  Voice  out  of  the  dark- 
ness rings  triumphantly  across  the  centuries: 

I  HAVE  FOUGHT  THE  GOOD  FIGHT; 
I  HAVE  RUN  MY  COURSE; 
I  HAVE  KEPT  THE  FAITH. 

Nor  did  Paul  carry  his  secret  away  with  him.  He 
throws  open  the  door  and  reveals  the  hidden  source 
of  all  his  strength  and  courage.    For,  he  says, 


MORE  THAN  CONQUEROR  361 

WE  ARE   MORE   THAN    CONQUERORS   THROUGH 
HIM  THAT  LOVED  US. 

FOR  I   AM   CERTAIN 
NEITHER   DEATH   NOR  LIFE, 
NEITHER  ANGELS  NOR  PRINCIPALITIES, 
NEITHER  THE   PRESENT   NOR  THE  FUTURE, 
NO    POWERS    OF    THE    HEIGHT    OR    OF    THE 

DEPTH, 
NOR  ANYTHING  ELSE  IN  ALL  CREATION 
WILL  BE  ABLE  TO  PART  US 
FROM   GOD'S   LOVE 
IN  CHRIST  JESUS  OUR  LORD. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  PAUL 

Adapted  by  kind  permission  of  Sir  William  Ramsay. 

Entrance  on  public  life  (in  his  thirtieth  A.D. 

year) 30or3l 

Events   culminating   in   the   death   of 

Stephen 30-33 

Journey  to  Damascus  and  Conver- 
sion     year  ending  Sept.  33 

Retirement  into  Arabia  ....  34 

First  visit  to  Jerusalem  ....  35 

Residence  in  Tarsus,  etc.       .        .        .  35~43 

Caligula  succeeds  Tiberius         .        .  37 

Claudius  succeeds  Caligula        .       .  4^ 

Barnabas  brings  Saul  to  Antioch         .  43 

The  Prophecy  of  Agabus     .       .       .  early  in  44 
The  famine  in  Jerusalem  begins  with 

failure  of  harvest     ....  45 

Second  visit  to  Jerusalem     .       .       .  winter  45-46 

Return  to  Antioch "      4^-47 

First  journey  ordered 

not  later  than  Passover,  29  March  47 

In  Cyprus till  July  47 

In  Pamphylia July  47 

In  Pisidian  Antioch         ....  till  winter  of  47 

In  Iconium till  summer  of  48 

In  Lystra till  autumn  of  48 

In  Derbe •  winter  4&-49 

Return    by    stages    through    Lystra, 

Iconium,     Antioch,     and     across 

Pisidia Feb.-May49 

Short  stay  in  Perga       .       .       .  '     .  June-July  49 

363 


364 


CHRONOLOGY 


Return  by  Attalia  to  Syrian  Antioch 
Third  visit  to  Jerusalem :  the  Council 

Caractacus  taken  to  Rome 
Second  journey  begins 

after  the  feast,  25  March  to  i  April  50 
In  Galatia  . 
Across  Asia  to  Troas 
In  Philippi 
In  Thessalonica 
In  Beroea  . 
In  Athens  . 
In  Corinth.    Thessalonian  Epistles,  and 

perhaps  Galatians   .       .        .         Sept.  51-March  53 

Arrival  of  Gallio July  52 

Fourth  visit  to  Jerusalem   .   at  the  feast,  22-29  March  53 
Short  visit  to  Syrian  Antioch :  Epistle 
to    Galatians   possibly   written   at 
■  this  time   . 
Third  journey  begins 


August  49 

winter  49-50 

50 


summer  50 

about  Oct.  50 

till  about  Dec.  50 

Dec.  50-May  51 

May-July  51 

August  51 


May  53 

about  June  53 

July  and  Aug.  53 

54 

Oct.  53-Jan.  56 

about  Oct.  55 

Feb.  56 


In  Galatia  .... 

Nero  succeeds  Claudius 
In  Ephesus 

Wrote  first  Letter  to  Corinthians 

In  Troas 

In  Macedonia till  late  autumn  56 

Wrote  second  Letter  to  Corinthians  summer  56 

In  Achaia  three  months  ....     Dec.  56-Feb.  57 

Journey  to  Philippi March  57 

Start  from  Philippi  for  Troas  on  the 

way  to  Jerusalem   ....  15  April  57 

Fifth  visit  to  Jerusalem  .... 

(day  before)  Pentecost,  28  May  57 
Imprisonment  in  C^sarea  .       .       .     June  57-July  59 

Nero  murders  his  mother,  Agrippina  59 


CHRONOLOGY  365 

Voyage  to  Rome  .....  Aug.  59-Feb.  60 

In  Rome until  end  of  61 

Boadicea's  rebellion  in  Britain  .  .  61 
Wrote  Letters  to  Colossians,  Philemon, 

Ephesians  and  Philippians   .       .  60-61 

1  Trial  and  acquittal         ....  end  of  61 

*  Later  travels.     Wrote  first  Letter  to 

Timothy  and  Letter  to  Titus        .  62-66 
Great  fire  at  Rome  and  persecution 

of   Christians    ....  64 

*  Second  trial.     Wrote  second  Letter 

to  Timothy.    Martyrdom       .       .  o7 

*  These  dates  and  the  whole  history  of  Paul's  trial,  and  possible 
acquittal,  and  later  travels,  and  of  his  martyrdom  are  highly  con- 
jectural. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  list  is  not  intended  for  scholars  making  research, 
but  simply  to  guide  those  who  wish  to  get  a  more  intimate 
understanding  of  the  life  and  work,  the  writings  and  the 
personality  of  Paul,  and  of  the  world  in  which  he  hved. 

The  New  Testament}  A  new  translation.  By  James 
Moffatt,  D.D.,  D.LiTT.  (Hodder  &  Stoughton). 

The  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament  (Revell). 

St.  Paul,  the  Traveller  and  Roman  Citizen.  By  Sir  Wil- 
liam Ramsay,  d.c.l.  (Putnam). 

The  Cities  of  St.  Paul.  By  Sir  William  Ramsay,  d.c.l. 
(Hodder  &  Stoughton). 

Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land.  By  Principal 
George  Adam  Smith  (Hodder  &  Stoughton). 

'An  Atlas  of  the  Acts  and  Epistles.  By  John  F.  Stirling 
(Revell). 

Life  in  the  Roman  World  of  Nero  and  St.  Paul.  By  T. 
G.  Tucker  (Macmillan). 

The  Life  of  St.  Paul.    By  James  Stalker,  m.a.  (Revell). 

Bible  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Paul.  By  Henry  T.  Sell, 
D.D.  (Revell). 

Paul  in  Everyday  Life.  By  John  Douglas  Adam,  d.d. 
(Association  Press). 

In  the  Time  of  Paul.  By  Edward  G.  Selden,  d.d. 
(Revell). 

Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  By  Conybeare  and  How- 
son  (Revell). 

Studies  of  the  Man  Paul.    By  Robert  E.  Speer  (Revell), 

St,  Paul  and  His  Mission  to  the  Roman  Empire.  By 
Christopher  N.  Johnston,  k.c.  (Revell). 

'The  quotations  in  this  life  of  Paul  are  largely  taken  from  this 
translation  by  kind  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers. 

367 


INDEX 


Abana,  86 

Achaia,  185,  270,  342 
Achaicus,  236 
Acro-Corinth,  227 
Acropolis,  215,  216 
Adriatic  Sea,  140,  182,  227,  329 
Adventure,  Paul's  (see  Paul) 
^gean    Sea,   20,    22,    140,    182, 

201,  209,  214,  217,  237 
^gnatian  Way    (see  Via  Eg- 

natia) 
^sculapius  181,  216 
Agabus,  no,  285 
Agrippa,  King,  311-317 
Agrippina    (mother  of   Nero), 

342 
Ajilon,  Valley  of,  303 
Alban,  Mount,  345 
Alexander    the    Great,    21,    22, 

38,  lOi,  172-173,  181,  201,  243, 

244 
Alexander  (a  Jew),  264 
Alexandria,  250,  323,  341 
Amanus  Mountains,  241,  243 
Amphipolis,  200 
Ananias    (of    Damascus),    85, 

87,  294,  295 
Ananias     (the    High    Priest), 

298,  305 
Anatolia    (Plateau  of),  19 
Andronicus,  271 
Antioch  (in  Pisidia),  131,  132- 

138,    143,    144,    152,  241,   246, 

267 
Antioch    (in   Syria),    100,    loi, 

102-107,    109,    no,    122,    152, 

153,  154,  162,  180,  236,  342 
Antipatris,  303 
Antony's    tower,    48,    56,    291, 

292,  301 
Aphrodite,  121,  122 
Apollo,  122 


Apollonia,  200 

Apollos,  250,  251 

Apphia,  357 

Appian  Way   (see  Via  Appia) 

Appii  Forum,  344 

Aquila     (and     Priscilla),    226, 

22T,   235,   236,  238,   249,  250, 

251,   261,   341,  346,  348 
Arabia,  87 

Areopagus,  219,  220,  222 
Aretas,  King  of  Damascus,  91 
Aristarchus,  261,  263,  264,  265, 

273,   276,   284,  289,  318,  332, 

3.48 
Aristophanes,  259 
Aristotle,  214 
Artemis    (see  Diana) 
Artemisium,  210 
Asia,  270,  342 
Assos,  276,  277 
Athene,  142,  211,  216 
Athenodorus,  ZT,  244 
Athens,   22,    119,    185,   210-223, 

237,  241,  242,  341 
Attalia,  Gulf  of,  129,  153 
Augustus  Tiberius,  346 
Aventine  Hill,  348,  356 

Bar-jesus  (see  Elymas) 
Barnabas,    94,    95,    96,    99-103, 

107-154,  157,  164-165,  246,  283, 

287,  321,  322 
Bar-Sabbas   (see  Judas) 
Bernice,  311 
Beroea,  207,  208,  241,  242,  258, 

270,  273 
Bethlehem,  49 
Bithynia,   179 
Black  Sea  (see  Euxine) 
Britain,  342 

Brundisium,  140,  182,  226,  343, 
357 


869 


370 


INDEX 


Caesar,  Claudius,  226 

Caesar,  Julius,  226 

Caesarea,  96,  239,  240,  274,  284, 

287,  300,  303-318,  338,  347 
Caiaphas,  69,  74,  91 

Caistor,  River,  238,  248,  252, 
259,  261 

Caligula,  346  _ 

Capitoline  Hill,  346 

Capua,  343 

Castor  and  Pollux  (the  Dios- 
curi), 328,  334,  337,  338,  339 

Cenchreae,    223,    224-225,    237, 

254,  271  . 
Cestrus,  River,  129 
Chios  Island,  278 
Ch'loe,  236,  254,  255 
Christian    (name    first    used), 

107 
Church,  Difficulties  of  the,  154- 

163,  254-255,  281 
Church,         Formation         and 

strengthening    of    the,     151, 

168,  229,  etc. 
Church  at  Jerusalem,  159,  166, 

288,  289,'  342 

Church  at  Rome,  342,  344,  348 

Cicero,  120,  207 

Cilicia,  18,  19,  129,  167,  227,  304 

Cilician  Gates,  19,  172,  241,  244 

Circus,  Maximus,  356 

Citizen,  Roman  (see  Rome) 

Clauda,  Island  of,  326 

Cleanthes,  221 

Cnidus,  323 

Colony   (see  Roman) 

Colossae,  252,  253,  261,  356,  357 

Coressus,  Mount,  260,  261 

Corinth,  119,  218,  223,  224-237, 
240,  241,  242,  252,  254-255, 
258,  266,  267,  268,  269,  285, 

291,  341 
Cos,  239,  282 
Crescens,  359 
Crete,  323,  328 
Crispus,  231,  236 
Cydnus,  River,  19,  129 
Cyprus,  28,  109,   117,  287,  321, 

322 
Cyrus,  21 


Damaris,  220,  223,  241 

Dalmatia,  359 

Damascus,  18,  22,  74,  85-86,  91, 

141,  218,  294,  342 
Demas,  353,  359 
Demetrius,  261-265 
Derbe,  150,  174,  241,  244,  245, 

273 
Diana,  129,  211,  216,  238,  259- 

261 
Dionysius,  222,  241 
Dium,  210 
Drusilla,  307,  308 
Dyrrachium,  182 

East,  The  Spirit  of  the,  120 

Elymas,  the  Sorcerer,  124,  127 

Emperor,  the  Roman  (see 
Rome) 

Epaenetus,  271 

Epaphras,  252,  353 

Epaphroditus,  353 

Ephesus,  119,  140,  185,  218,  236- 
239,  241,  243,  247,  248,  249, 
250-266,    267,   270,   279,   290, 

341,  357 
Epicurean  Philosophy,  215,  218, 

220 
Epistles  (see  Letters) 
Erastus,  236,  261 
Etna,  Mount,  339 
Eunice   (mother  of  Timothy), 

174,  176,  245 
Eutychus,  275-276 
Euxine  Sea  (Black  Sea),  179, 

248 

Fair  Havens,  323,  324,  325 
Felix,  284,  303-309,  312 
Festus  (Porcius),  309-317 
Fortunatus,  236 
Forum,  346 

Gains,  236,  261,  263,  264,  265, 

272,  273,  288 
Galatia,  246,  270,  273 
Gallio,  233-234,  235,  241,  252 
Gamaliel,  45,  53,  54,  55,  57,  58, 

60,  66,  68-69,  yT,  84,  88,  93, 

III,  228,  240,  294 
Gaul,  359 


INDEX 


371 


Gibeah,  ^6,  77 

Greek  Art,  119,  120,  212,  216, 
225,  226,  238,  260-261 

Greek  Philosophy  (see  Epi- 
curean, Stoic) 

Halicarnassus,  Gulf  of,  239,  282 

Hermon,  Mount,  82 

Hermus,  252 

Herodion,  271 

Herodotus,  211 

Hierapolis,  252,  261 

Hillel,  45,  55 

Iconium,  20,  119,  141-143,  152, 

241,  245,  267 
Ida,  Mount,  180,  276,  324 
Imbros  Island,  185 
Isthmian  Games,  225-226,  232, 

279 

James,  95,  159,  161,  163,  288, 
290 

Jason,  199,  201,  203-204 

Jerusalem,  20,  43,  47,  49,  74, 
75,  76,  III,  163,  174,  240,  242, 
272,  273,  277,  283,  284,  285, 
286,  295,  303,  304,  307,  310 

Jerusalem,  Council  at,  159,  165 

—  Feast  at,  44,  239,  240,  248,  273 

—  Life  in,  44,  51 

—  Gift  collected  by  the  Chris- 

tian Churches  for,  245,  270, 
272,  289 
Jewish  Law,  55,  60-61,  65,  72, 

88-89,  156,  161,  163,  285,  289- 

291,  297,  304 
Jewish  Schools,  45,  54 
John,  95 
joppa,  iss 
Jordan,  18 

Judas  (Damascene  Jew),  82 
Judas   Bar-Sabbas,   162 
Julius  (the  centurion),  317,  321- 

332,  334,  338,  341,  343,  346 
Junias,  271 

Jupiter,  144.  145,  1/4,  215 
Justus    (Titius),  230,  231,  233, 

236,  22,7 

Karpass,  Peninsula  of,  118 


Laodicea,  253,  261 

Law   (see  Jewish) 

Lebanon,  18 

Lesbos,  278 

Letters  to  the  Church  in — 

(o)  Thessalonica,  299 

{b)  Colossse,  357 

(c)  Corinth,    231,    236,    252, 
-  255-258,  268,  269,  275- 

276 

(d)  Rome,  271,  272 

Letter  to  the  "  Ephesians,"  253 
Letter  to  Philemon,  355-356 
Lois  (Timothy's  grandmother), 

174,  176,  245 
Lucius   (of  Cyrene),  104,  112, 

155,  241 
Luke   (the  physician),  181-182, 

186,   198,   207,  253,  273,  275, 

280,  283,   284,  285,  286,   309, 

318,  326,  327,  332,  344,  348, 

352    359 
Lycus  Valley,  140,  252,  259,  261, 

356 
Lydia,  186,  198 
Lysias     (Claudius),    292,    293, 

296-297,  298,  299-300,  303,  306, 

307 
Lystra,  20,   119,   I44,   I5i,   174, 

241,  245,  267,  273 

Macedonia,   20,    182,   259,   268, 

270,  342 
Malta,  335-338 
Manaen,  104,  112,  155,  241 
"  Many  Nations,"  49,  52-53 
Mark    (John),    112,    118,    128, 

130,   164,    165,    175,  344,  346, 

353 
Matala,  Cape,  324 
Meander,  River,  252,  259,  261 
Mediterranean  Sea,  18,  28,  40, 

41 
Mercury,  144,  14S,  174 
Messina,  Straits  of,  338 
Miletus,  239,  274,  279 
Minerva,  216 
Mitylene,  278 
Mnason,  287 
Myra,  317,  321,  322,  323 
Mysia,  179 


372 


INDEX 


Nazarenes,  66,   67,  68,  69,  70, 

■72>,  74-75,  83-84 
Nazareth,  27,  45,  59 
Neapolis,  140,  185,  186,  268,  273 
Neptune,  211 
Nero,  271,   303,   341,  342,  346, 

351 

Olympus,  Mount,  121,  128,  210 
Onesimus,  355-357,  358 

Palatine  Hill,  350,  351 
Pamphylia,  128 
Pan-athenaic  games,  the,  215 
Paphos,  122-127,  239,  283 
Parthenon,  The,  212,  215,  216 
Passover,  The,  44,  50,  etc. 
Patara,  274,  282 
Path,  The  Museum,  20,  21 
Patmos,  239 
Paul  (see  Page  373) 
Paul's  nephew,  299-300 
Paulus,  Sergius,  123-127 
Perga     (in    Pamphylia),    128, 

129,   153 
Pergamos,  261 
Persecution  of  Early  Christians 

(see  Paul) 
Peter  (Simon),  61,  62,  63,  67, 

68,  69,  94,  95,  96,  155,  160 
Pharisees,  47,  53,  54,  63,  81,  156, 

160,  169,  298 
Phenice,  324,  325 
Philadelphia,  252,  261 
Philemon    (of   Colossse),  355- 

357,  358 
Philip,  28s 

Philip  of  Macedonia,  182 
Philippi,  182,  185,  186-199,  207, 

226,   237,   242,  252,   258,  266, 

267,  268,  270,  273,  318,  353 
Philosophy   (see  Greek) 
Phcebe,  237,  272 
Pilgrims,  20,  43,  46,  47-49,  94, 

239-240 
Piraeus,  211,  212,  270 
Pisidia,  131,  152 
Pompeii,  339 
Pontine  Marshes,  343 
Pontus,  227 
Priscilla   (see  Aquila) 


Ptolemais,  284 

Publius    (governor  of  Malta), 

335-336 
Puteoli,  226,  323,  339,  341,  342 

Rabbi,  the,  47 

Rhegium,  338 

Rhodes,  226,  239,  274,  282 

Road,  The  Great,  19,  21,  247, 

etc. 
—  The  Royal,  131 
Roman — 

Citizenship,  22,  26,  41-42  (see 
also  Paul) 

Colonies,  132,  144 

Empire  and  Power,  19,  20, 
21,  22,  40-41,  48-49,  56,  96, 
120-121,  122-123,  139,  271, 
298-299 

Roads,  20,   131,  138,  139-140, 
170,  179,  182 
Rome,    139,    218,   226-227,   235- 

236,   271,   298,   309,   310,  312, 

317,  323,  342-346,  350-360  (see 

also  Paul) 
Rome,  Emperor  of,  19,  91,  313 

(see  also  Caesar,  Nero,  Cali- 
gula, etc.) 
Rome,    The    Church    at    (see 

Church) 
Rufus,  271 

Sadducees,  The,  63,  156,  298 
Salamis,  1 18-120,  224,  237,  322 
Salmone,  323 
Samos,  238 

Samothrace  Island,  185,  268 
Sanhedrin  70-71,  297,  299 
Sardis,  252,  261 
Saul  (see  Paul) 
Saul  the  King,  25 
Schools,  Jewish,  45,  54 
Scribes,  63 
Secundus,  289 
Seleucia,  117,  128,  154 
Seneca,  233,  351 
Separatists   (see  Pharisees) 
Sicily,  338 

Sidon,  28,  109,  158,  217,  321 
Silas,    162-208,    210,    214,    228, 
244,  247 


INDEX 


373 


Silvanus  (see  Silas) 

Simeon  (Black),  104,  112,  241, 

243 
Simon   (see  Peter) 
Smyrna,  226,  237,  252 
Socrates,  219 
Sopater  (son  of  Pyrrhus),  209, 

210-21 1,  273,  289 
Sophocles,  120 
Sosthenes,   233,   234,   236,   241, 

255,  256 
Spain,  226,  271 
Stadium,  The  (Athens) 
Stephen,  70-73,  83,  95,  149,  292, 

295,  302 
Stoic   philosophy,   218-219,  220 
Storks,  18-22,   149 
Stromboli,  Mount,  339 
Sulpius,  Mount,  155,  243 
Syracuse,  338 
Syria,  167,  etc. 
Syrtis  quicksands,  326 

Tarsus,  17-20,  21,  22,  26,  28-30, 

37,   38,  40,  43,  44,   169,  218, 

244,  266 
Taursus,  Mount,  17,  18,  28,  46, 

121,    130,   132,   143,   153,   172, 

241,  244,  282 
Temple,  The,  44,  46,  48,  49,  51, 

58,  70,  71,  etc. 
Tertius,  272 
Tertullus,  305-306 
Thermopylae,  2H 


The'ssalonica,  201-206,  207,  208, 
226,  237,  241,  242,  258,  266, 

267,  270,  273,  359 
Thyatira,  186,  252,  261 
Timothy,  167-168,  174-17S,  176- 

198,  207,  208,  211,  214,   229, 
245,  247,   251,  252,   261,   270, 
273,  285,  286,  288,  352,  353 
Titius  Justus    (see  Justus) 
Titus,    106,    no,   155,  251,  258, 

268,  269,  270,  359 

Troas,  180,   181,   185,  i86,  237, 

267,  268,  273,  274,  277 
Trogyllium,  279 
Trophimus,  273,  289,  290 
Troy   (see  Troas) 
Tychicus,  252,  273,  289,  356,  357, 

358 
Tyrannus,  lecture-room  of,  251, 

252,  253,  266 
Tyre,    28,    109,    159,    186,    217, 

283,  284 

Venus,  216 

—  Temple  of,  227 

Vestal  Virgins,  temple  of,  352 

Vesuvius,  Mount,  339 

Via  Appia,   140,   182,  343,  345, 

346,  357 
Via  Egnatia,  182,  207,  209,  241 

Xanthus,  282 
Xenophon,  loi 
Xerxes,  21 


PAUL 


I.  ("Saul.")  Boyhood,  home 
influence,  student  days,  and 
early  manhood. 

Parents,  18,  25,  30,  31,  33-35, 
37,  38,  43,  44,  46,  84,  169 

Ancestry,  25-26 ;  Name,  25-26. 
The  Three  Threads  of  In- 
fluence: (a)  Jewish,  31-36, 
38-39.  (b)  Greek,  36-39.  (c) 
Roman,  40-42  (also  p.  296- 
297).     As  a  student,  43,  44, 


47;  at  Jerusalem,  45-46,  49, 
52-65,  66,  etc. ;  consenting  to 
death  of  Stephen,  73 ;  perse- 
cuting of  early  followers  of 
the  Way,  73,  74,  75,  79-8o; 
journey  to  Damascus,  76-82. 
The  Great  Adventure,  80-81 ; 
his  preparation  for  service, 
83-91 ;  escape  from  Damas- 
cus, 92-93  ;  reception  at  Jeru- 
salem, 93-96;  escape  to  Tar- 


874 


INDEX 


sus,  97;  visit  of  Barnabas, 
99;  The  Call,  112;  Saul 
henceforth  called  Paul,  125. 

II.  First  Journey.    Companions 

— Barnabas  and  John  Mark. 
Journey  to  Cyprus,  117; 
(Salamis),  118-120;  Paphos, 
122-127 ;  encounter  with  Ely- 
mas  the  Sorcerer,  and  con- 
version of  Sergius  Paulus, 
124-127;  reaches  Perga  in 
Pamphylia,  129 ;  smitten  with 
fever,  130;  desertion  of  John 
Mark,  130;  journey  to 
Antioch  in  Pisidia,  131-133; 
danger  from  robbers,  132; 
rejected  by  the  Jews  at 
Antioch,  137-138;  and  at 
Iconium,  142-143;  healed  a 
cripple  at  Lystra,  144-145; 
stoned  and  cast  out  of  the 
city,  146-147;  reaches  Derbe, 
149-150;  return  journey 
through  Lystra,  Iconium  and 
Antioch  in  Pisidia  to 
Antioch  in  Syria,  1 51-154. 

Serious  dispute  about  Cir- 
cumcision in  the  Church,  154- 
163 ;  decision  of  the  Church 
at  Jerusalem,  159-163;  Paul's 
separation  from  Barnabas, 
164-165 ;  chooses  Silas  as  his 
companion,   166. 

III.  Second    Journey.      Com- 
panion— Silas. 

Re-visits  churches  in  Syria 
and  Cilicia,  166;  joined  by 
Timothy  at  Derbe,  174; 
reaches  Troy,  181 ;  joined  by 
Luke,  181-182;  the  call  to 
Macedonia,  182 ;  passes 
through  Neapolis  to  Philippi, 
186;  heals  the  slave-girl, 
187-193 ;  flogged  and  thrown 
into  prison,  194;  the  earth- 
quake and  conversion  of 
jailer,  196-197;  leaves  Phil- 
ippi, 199;  preaches  in  Thes- 
salonica,     201-202;     escapes 


with  Silas,  206-207;  life 
threatened  at  Bercea,  209; 
sent  to  Athens,  209;  Paul 
in  Athens,  212-223 ;  arrives 
in  Corinth,  226;  work  in 
Corinth,  226-237;  taken  be- 
fore the  proconsul,  233 ; 
joined  by  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla,  237 ;  returns  via  Ephe- 
sus,  Csesarea  and  Jerusalem 
to  Antioch  in  Syria,  236-241 ; 
the  spreading  of  the  King- 
dom, 235-236;  Paul's  ambi- 
tion to  extend  it  to  Rome 
itself,  242-243. 

IV.  Third  Journey. 
Undertaken  partly  to  unite 
the  churches  by  collecting  a 
gift  for  the  needy  church  at 
Jerusalem,  245  ;  Paul  revisits 
churches  in  Cilicia  and  Gala- 
tia,  243-247 ;  returns  to 
Ephesus,  249;  stays  in 
Ephesus,  252-266 ;  burning 
of  the  magic  parchments, 
etc.,  254;  the  Festival  of 
Artemis  of  Ephesus  and  the 
riot  caused  by  Demetrius, 
259-265 ;  leaves  Ephesus  for 
Troas,  266-268;  goes  to  Phil- 
ippi, 268-270;  from  thence  to 
Thessalonica,  Beroea  and 
Corinth,  270-271 ;  plot  against 
his  life  foiled,  273  ;  celebrates 
the  Passover  at  Philippi,  273  ; 
returns  through  Troas  and 
Miletus  on  his  way  to  Syria, 
274-279 ;  says  "  farewell  "  to 
his  friends  from  Ephesus, 
239,  279-281  ;  reaches  Tyre, 
283 ;  warned  at  Csesarea  not 
to  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  286. 

V.  Fifth  visit  to  Jerusalem, 
287-300;  the  Arrest  and  De- 
fence, 292;  before  the  San- 
hedrin,  297-298;  taken  to 
Csesarea,  300-303;  before 
Felix,  303-308;  before  Fes- 
tus,    309-317;    before    King 


INDEX 


375 


Agrippa  and  Bernice,  312- 
317;  "I  appeal  to  Caesar," 
310. 

VI.  The  Voyage  to  Rome. 
The  departure  from  Cassarea, 
321 ;  overtaken  by  the  ty- 
phoon. 324-325  ;  shipwrecked 
off  island  of  Malta,  326-333; 
Paul  regarded  as  a  god,  335 ; 
heals  Publius'  father,  336; 
arrives  at  Rome,  332-348. 

VII.  Paul    in   Rome — an    am- 
bassador in  chains,  346-360. 


Paul,  the  Jew  and  Pharisee, 

49,  51-56,  57,  64-65,  68,  1 25, 

159,  235,  285,  288,  293,  298, 

308-309,  313-314- 

Paul  the  Roman,  41-42,   56, 

125,  235,  271,  288,  296,   301, 

342. 

Paul   the  tent-maker,   30-31, 

150,   167,  201,  203,  205,  209, 

226-227 

Paul's    Missionary  Methods, 

122,  125-127,  133-134,  154,  166, 

228,  231,  242,  243,  244,  256- 

257. 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


BIBLE  STUDY,  DEVOTIONAL,  Etc. 


A.    T. 


Studies  in  the  New  Testament 

A  Handbook  for  Bible  Classes  in  Sunday  Schools, 
for  Teacher  Training  Work,  for  use  in  Secondary 
Schools  and  Colleges.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

In  it  are  no  references  to  books  of  any  kind  outside  the 
Bible.  With  the  help  of  the  maps  and  a  New  Testament  one 
can  study  this  work  with  no  other  books  in  hand. 

REV.  JOSEPH  T.  GIBSON,   P.P. 

Jesus  Chri^  :   The  Unique  Revealer  of  God 

8vo,  cloth,  $1.50. 

The  author  has  sought  to  see,  and  aid  others  in  seeing 
Jesus  Christ  as  He  is  presented  in  the  Scriptures.  He  has 
compiled  a  "Life"  neither  critical  nor  iconoclastic,  but  de- 
signed for  those  who  regard  the  Word  of  God  as  being  not 
only  the  infalliable  guide  to  faith  and  duty,  but  the  authentic 
chronicle  of  the  earthly  life  of  our  L,ord.  Dr.  Gibson  has 
harmonized  the  Gospels  and  from  them  constructed  a  graphic 
narrative  which,  contrives,  to  re-limn  an  old  picture  with 
freshness  and  charm. 

REV.    GEO.    H.    YOUNG,  M. A.,  Asn  Prof.  Rh,UrU  and  PutUt 

^~~~~^~~~^~^^~~~~~^~^'~~^~~^^^^~    Speakingt  Colgatt  Univtrsity 

The  Illustrative  Teachings  of  Jesus 

The  Parables,  Similics  and  Metaphors  of  Christ. 
I2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"A  most  readable  and  practical  treatment  of  the  methods 
of  the  Master  for  the  general  Bible  student  and  Christian 
worker.  A  valuable  contribution  to  one's  conception  of  Jesus 
as  the  'Teacher  come  from  God,'  and  revealing  in  life,  con- 
tent of  instruction  and  method  of  presentation  the  will  of 
the  Father." — Review  and  Expositor. 

IV.  BEATTY  JENNINGS,    P.P. 

The  Social  Teachings  of  Chri^  Jesus 

A  Manual  for  Bible  Classes,  Christian  Associa- 
tions, Social  Study  Groups,  etc.    i6mo,  cloth,  net  soc. 

In  a  series  of  twenty  studies,  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are  ap- 
plied to  specific  social  sins  and  needs  of  to-day,  such  as  poverty, 
pleasure,  war,  the  drink  traffic,  etc.,  and  shown  to  be  the  sur« 
and  only  solution  of  the  problems  of  society. 

ROBERT  FREEMAN 

The  Hour  of  Prayer 

Helps  to  Devotion  When  Absent  from  Church. 
I2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

"A  volume  of  reverent  purpose  desigrned  especially  for 
those  who  wish  some  form  of  Sunday  observance,  or  who,  by 
stress  of  circumstances,  are  prevented  from  attending  serv- 
ices in  the  churches.  To  shut-ins,  mothers  with  young  chil- 
dren, nurses  and  others  who  are  unable  to  attend  public  wor- 
ship, the  book  will  particularly  appeal." — Buffalo  Express. 


BIBLE  STUDY 


JAMES  M.    GRAY,     P.P.  Dean  of  Moody  Biblt  InUitut, 

Christian  Workers*  Commentary  on  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments.  Cloth,  net,  $2.00. 

"At  last!  A  truly  competent  commentary  on  the  whole 
Bible  in  one  volume,  and  for  a  price  within  the  reach  of  all. 
These  are  desiderata  long  agreed  upon,  but  never,  in  a  really 
popular  sense,  met  before.  Dr.  Gray  brought  to  the  task  of 
producing  such  a  book  the  powers  at  their  maturity  that  have 
made  him  one  of  the  foremost  Bible  teachers  of  the  English- 
speaking  world.  Clearness  of  thought;  the  mastery  of  con- 
densed expression  without  the  sacrifice  of  lucidity;  immense 
industry;  adequate  scholarship;  thoroughness;  a  joyous 
trust  in  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures." — Dr.  C.  I.  ScoHeld,  in 
S.  S.  Times. 
ROBERT  E.  SPEER,    P.P. 

John's  Gospel 

The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  Leatherette, 
net  50c. 

A  study  of  John's  Gospel  by  a  man  whose  far-reaching  in- 
fluence is  one  of  the  great  formative  forces  of  religious  life 
in  America.  The  material  here  brought  together  has  already 
been  "tried-out"  by  Dr.  Speer  at  some  important  student  con- 
ferences with  conspicuous  success. 

G.    CAMPBELL  MORGAN 

Living  Messages  of  the  Books  of  the 

Bible,  Vol.  I.       Old  Testament— Genesis  to  Malachi 

Living  Messages  of  the  Books  of  the 

Bible,  Vol.  11.  NewTestament—Mziihevi-'Reyeiaiioa 

8vo,  cloth,  each  net  $i.oo. 

This  popular  four  volume  set  is  now  published  in  two,  each 
volume  containing  twice  the  amount  previously  included. 
This  work  is  quite  distinct  from  the  author's  "Analyzed 
Bible."  "Each  book  is  treated  as  a  unit,  having  a  message  or 
messages  for  our  own  times." — The   United  Presbyterian. 

MARCUS  POPS,    P.P. 

The  Parables  of  Our  Lord 

A  new  edition.  In  one  volume.  International 
Leaders'  Library.    Net  50c ;  postage  extra. 

"The  author  occupies  a  foremost  place  among  evangelical 
writers  of  our  times.  His  writings,  while  scholarly,  are  at  tha 
•ame  time  simple  in  statement,  practical  in  purpose,  and  de- 
vout in  spirit." — Religious  Telescope, 

W.    O.    E.    O  ESTER  LEY,    P.P.  Warden  of  th,  SocUty  ,f 

— ^— ^^-^^^^— — — ^— — ^^— ^^—  the  Afcrapha 

The  Books  of  the  Apocrypha 

Their  Origin,  Teaching  and  Contents.    Net  $3.00. 

The  author  has  presented  a  highly  satisfactory  piece  of 
work.  Besides  what  would  be  naturally  looked  for  in  a  work 
of  this  sort — an  introduction  to  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha, 
account  of  their  contents,  date  of  writing,  etc., — this  book  con- 
tains an  astonishing  mass  of  useful  and  interesting  matter  of 
•deatific  value. 


BIBLE  STUDY,  Etc. 


B.  H.  CARROLL,  P.P. 

An  Interpretation  of  the  English  Bihle 

Numbers  to  Ruth.        8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.75. 

"These  works  are  designed  especially  for  class  use  in  the 
Seminary,  Christian  Colleges  and  Bible  Schools,  as  well  as 
the  Sunday  School,  lliat  they  will  make  the  greatest  com- 
mentary on  the  English  Bible  ever  published,  is  our  sincere 
conviction." — Baptist  and  Rejector. 

OTHER  VOLUMES  NOW  READY 
The  Book  of  Revelation.    8vo.  cloth,  net  $1.75. 
The  Book  of  Genesis.    8vo,  cloth,  net  $2.25. 
Exodus  and  Leviticus.    8vo,  cloth,  net  $2.25. 

/.  FRANK  SMITH,    P.P. 

My  Father's  Business—And  Mine 

lamo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Dr.  Smith  devotes  the  earlier  part  of  his  book  to  a  study 
of  Christ's  historic  pronouncement  concerning  His  Father's 
business,  presenting  an  examination  of  the  analogical  content 
of  the  word  "Father,"  and  an  analysis  of  the  Master's  own 
sayings  respecting  His  earthly  mission. 

JOHN  F.    STIRLING  Auikorof'An  Atlas  of  the 

■  LtfeofLhnst 

An  Atlas  of  the  Acts  and  Epistles 

A  Complete  Outline  of  Apostolic  History,  Show- 
ing the  Details  of  the  Apostles'  Journeys  and  the 
Area  of  the  Epistles  in  Specially  Drawn  Maps.  8vo, 
limp  cloth,  net  40c. 

"Gives  at  a  glance  a  complete  and  graphic  outline  of  apos- 
tolic history.  The  outline  follows  the  narrative  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  supplemented  by  the  data  furnished  in  the 
epistles,  and  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  best  scholarship. 
The  historical  details  are  presented  in  their  geographical  and 
chronological  setting,  on  a  series  of  specially  drawn  maps,  so 
that  the  student  may  follow  easily  the  movements  of  the 
leading  figures  in  the  growth  of  the  early  church." — Service. 

JESSE  FOREST  SILVER 

The  Lord's  Return 

Seen  in  History  and  in  Scripture  as  Pre-Millennial 
and  Imminent.  With  an  Introduction  by  Bishop 
Wilson  T.  Hogue,  Ph.D.     8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

In  his  Introductory  Preface,  Bishop  Hogue  of  the  _  Free 
Methodist  Church  says:  "An  encyclopedia  of  valuable  infor- 
mation condensed  into  a  convenient  hand-book  for  ready  ref- 
erence. 


BIBLE  STUDY 


PROF.    EDOUARD  NAVILLE,  C.D.L.,  LLP.,  F.R.S. 

Archaeolosry  of  the  Old  Testament 

Was  the  Old  Testament  Written  in  Hebrew? 
Library  of  Historic  Theology.  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

Professor  A.  H.  Sayce  says:  "A  very  remarkable  work, 
and  coining  as  it  does  from  one  of  the  leading  Egyptologists 
of  the  day,  who  is  also  a  practical  archaeologist,  its  argu- 
ments and  conclusions  carry  unusual   weight." 


A.  R.  BUCKLAND,  M.A.    (Editor)        An  Entirely  n,u, 

■ Bible  Dictionary 

Universal  Bible  Dictionary 

Large  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50, 

A  work  prepared  with  the  definite  aim  of  aiding  the  ordi- 
nary reader  and  Bible  student,  rather  than  critic  and  schol- 
ar. It  is  also  arranged  so  as  to  serve  as  an  introduction 
to  systematic  theology  study,  and  contains  extended  arti- 
cles on  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith  by  such 
experienced  teachers  as  Prof.  S.  W.  Green,  Dr.  W.  H. 
Griffith  Thomas,  Principal  Warman,  and  others  of  equal 
standing.  On  questions  of  modern  criticism,  the  general 
exposition  taken  by  the  compilers  is  a  conservative  one,  al- 
though exhaustive  account  has  been  taken  of  the  conclusion 
of  up-to-date  criticism  and  research.  The  volume  extends 
to  about  five  hundred  pages,  and  contains  upwards  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  articles 


PHILIP    MAURO 

EXPOSITORY  READINGS  IN  THE  EPISTLE' 
TO  THE  ROMANS 

God's  Gospel  and  God*s  Righteousness 

Romans  I-V.     12mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

God's  Gift  and  Our  Response 

Romans  VI-VIII.     12mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

God's  Love  and  God's  Children 

Romans  IX-XVII.  12mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 
A  helpful  and  clearly-written  body  of  comment  on  St. 
Paul's  Letter  to  the  Romans.  The  author  is  a  layman  whose 
work  is  known  and  valued  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
Mr.  Mauro  does  not  write  for  scholars,  but  for  devout  and 
Vorshipful  believers — for  men  and  women  whose  faith  i£ 
imple,  yet  grounded  on  the  Word  of  the  Living  God. 


SERMONS— LECTURES— ADDRESSES 

JAMES  L.  GORDON,    P.D. 

All's  Love  Yet  All's  Law 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"Discloses  the  secret  of  Dr.  Gordon's  eloquence — fresh, 
and  intimate  presentations  of  truth  which  always  keep  close 
to  reality.  Dr.  Gordon  also  seems  to  have  the  world's  litera- 
ture at  his  command.  A  few  of  the  titles  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  scope  of  his  preaching.  'The  L,aw  of  Truth:  The 
Science  of  Universal  Relationships';  'The  L,aw  of  Inspiration: 
The  Vitalizing  Power  of  Truth';  'The  Law  of  Vibration'; 
'The  Law  of  Beauty:  The  Spiritualizing  Power  of  Thought'; 
The  Soul's  Guarantee  of  Immortality." — Christian  Work. 
BISHOP  tRANCIS  J.  McCONNELL         Cole  Lectures 

Personal  Christianity 

Instruments  and   Ends  in  the  Kingdom  of   God. 
l2nio,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  latest  volume  of  the  famous  "Cole  Lectures"  delivered 
at  Vanderbilt  University.  The  subjects  are:  I.  The  Per- 
sonal in  Christianity.  II.  The  Instrumental  in  Christianity. 
III.  The  Mastery  of  World-Views.  IV.  The  Invigoration 
of  Morality.  V.  The  Control  of  Social  Advance.  VI. 
"Every  Kindred,  and  People,  and  Tongue." 
NEWELL  DWIGHT  HILLIS,  P.P. 

Lectures  and  Orations  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher 

Collected  by  Newell  Dwight  Hillis.     l2mo,  net  $1.20. 

It  is  fitting  that  one  who  is  noted  for  the  grace,  finish  and 
eloquence  of  his  own  addresses  should  choose  those  of  his 
predecessor  which  he  deems  worthy  to  be  preserved  in  a 
bound  volume  as  the  most  desirable,  the  most  characteristic 
and  the  most  dynamic  utterances  of  America's  greatest  pulpit 
orator. 

IV.  L.  WATKINSON,  P.P. 

The  Moral  Paradoxes  of  St.  Paul 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"These  sermons  are  marked,  even  to  greater  degree  than 
is  usual  with  their  talented  preacher,  by  clearness,  force  and 
illustrative  aptness.  He  penetrates  unerringly  to  the  heart 
of  Paul's  paradoxical  settings  forth  of  great  truths,  and  il- 
lumines them  with  pointed  comment  and  telling  illustration, 
'The  sermons  while  thoroughly  practical  are  garbed  in  strik- 
ing and  eloquent  sentences,  terse,  nervous,  attention-com- 
pelling."— Christian  World. 
LEN  G.  BROUGHTON,  P.P. 

The  Prodigal  and  Others 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"The  discourses  arc  vital,  bright,  interesting  and  helpful. 
It  makes  a  preacher  feel  like  preaching  once  more  on  this 
exhaustless  parable,  and  will  prove  helpful  to  all  young  people 
— and  older  ones,  too.  Dr.  Broughton  does  not  hesitate  to 
make  his  utterances  striking  and  entertaining  by  the  intro- 
duction of  numerous  appropriate  and  homely  stories  and  illus- 
trations.    He  reaches  the  heart." — Review  and  Expositor. 


EARLIER  WORKS  IN  DEMAND 

WAYNE  WHIPPLE 

The  Story-Life  of  the  Son  of  Man 

8vo,  illustrated,  net  $2.50. 

"A  literary  mosaic,  consisting  of  quotations  from  a  great 
number  of  writers  concerning  all  the  events  of  the  Gospels. 
The  sub-title  accurately  describes  its  contents.  That  sub- 
title is  'Nearly  a  thousand  stories  from  sacred  and  secular 
sources  in  a  continuous  and  complete  chronicle  of  the  earth 
life  of  the  Saviour.'  The  book  was  prepared  for  the  general 
reader,  but  will  be  valuable  to  minister,  teacher  and  student. 
There  are  many  full-page  engravings  from  historic  paintings 
and  sacred  originals,  some  reproduced  for  the  first  time." — 
Christian  Observer. 

GAIUS  GLENN  ATKINS,  P.P. 

Pilgrims  of  the  Lonely  Road 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

"A  rare  book  for  its  style,  its  theme  and  the  richness  of 
its  insight.  Seldom  is  seen  a  book  of  more  exquisite  grace 
of  diction — happy  surprises  of  phrase,  and  lovely  lengths  of 
haunting  prose  to  delight  the  eye.  Each  of  the  great  pil- 
grim's studies  is  followed  step  by  step  along  the  lonely  way 
of  the  soul  in  its  quest  of  light,  toward  the  common  goal  of 
all — union  with  the  eternal." — Chicago  Record-Herald. 

S.  P.   GORDON 

^  Quiet  Talks  on  Following  The  Chri^ 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

"This  volume  is  well  calculated  to  aid  in  Christian  life,  to 
.give  strength,  courage  and  light  on  difficult  problems.  It 
grips  one's  very  life,  brings  one  face  to  face  with  God's 
word,  ways  of  _  understanding  it  and,  even  its  every  day  ap- 
plication. It  is  plain,  clear,  direct,  no  confusion  of  dark 
sentences." — Bapt.  Observer. 

G.  CAMPBELL  MORGAN,  P.P. 

The  Teaching  of  Chri^ 

A  Companion  Volume  to  "The  Crises  of  The 
Christ."    8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

"One  does  not  read  far  before  he  is  amazed  at  the  clear  and 
logical  grasp  Dr.  Morgan  has  upon  divine  truths.  Could  a 
copy  of  this  book,  with  its  marvelous  insight,  its  straightfor- 
wardness, its  masterly  appeal,  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  our 
church  leaders,  it  would  go  far  toward  negativing  the  spir- 
itual barrenness  of  destructive  criticism.  Here  is  a  work 
that  may  profitably  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  minister's 
library." — Augsburg   Teacher. 

ZEPHINE  HUMPHREY 

The  Edge  of  the  Woods    And  other  Papers 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"Sane  optimism,  an  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  and  a 
delicate  humor  pervades  the  book  which  is  one  for  lovers  of 
real  literature  to  enjoy." — Pittsburgh  Post. 


ESSAYS,  STUDIES,  ADDRESSES 

^  ■  .a 

PROF.  HUGH  BLACK 

The  New  World 

i6mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

"The  old  order  changeth,  bringing  in  the  new."  To  a  re- 
▼iew  of  our  changing  world — religious,  scientific,  social — Hugh 
Black  brings  that  interpretative  skill  and  keen  insight  which 
distinguishes  all  his  writings  and  thinking.  Especially  does  he 
face  the  problem  of  the  present-day  unsettlement  and  unrest 
in  religious  beliefs  with  sanity  and  courage,  furnishing  in  this, 
as  in  other  aspects  of  his  enquiry,  a  new  viewpoint  and  clari- 
fied outlook. 

S.  D.  GORDON 

Quiet  Talks  on  John's  Gospel 

As  Presented  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  Cloth,  net  7Sc. 

Mr.  Gordon  halts  his  reader  here  and  there,  at  some  pre- 
cious text,  some  outstanding  instance  of  God's  tenderness, 
much  as  a  traveller  lingers  for  refreshment  at  a  wayside 
spring,  and  bids  us  hearken  as  God's  wooing  note  is  heard 
pleading  for  consecrated  service.  An  enheartening  book,  and 
a  restful.  A  book  of  the  winning  Voice,  of  outstretched 
Hands. 

ROBERT  F.   HORTON,  P.P. 

The  Springs  of  Joy  and  Other  Addresses 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

"Scholarljr,  reverent,  penetrating,  human.  The  product  of 
a  mature  mind  and  of  a  genuine  and  sustained  religious  ex- 
perience. The  message  of  a  thinker  and  a  saint,  which  will 
be  found  to  be  very  helpful." — Christian  Intelligencer. 

BISHOP  WALTER   R.    LAMBUTH 

Winning  the  World  for  Chri^ 

A  Study  of  Dynamics.  Cole  Lectures  for  1915. 
l2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

Ttis  Lecture-Course  is  a  spirited  contribution  to  the  dy- 
namics of  Missions.  It  presents  a  study  of  the  sources  of  in- 
spiration and  power  in  the  lives  of  missionaries,  native  and 
foreign,  who  with  supreme  abandon  gave  themselves  utterly 
to  the  work  to  which  they  were  called. 

FREDERICK  F.  SHANNON,   P.P. 

The  New  Personality  and  Other  Sermons 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Mr.  Shannon,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  on  the 
Heights,  Brooklyn,  is  possessed  of  lofty  ideals,  is  purpose- 
ful, more  than  ordinarily  eloquent  and  has  the  undoubted 
gifts  of  felicitous  and  epigrarnmatic  expression.  This  new  vol- 
ume by  the  popular  preacher  is  a  contribution  of  distinct  value 
to  current  sermonic  literature. 


DEVOTIONAL 


JOHN  HENRY  JOIVETT 

My  Daily  Meditation  for  the  circling  Year 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

A  series  of  choice,  tabloid  talks — a  spiritual  meditation 
for  every  day  in  the  year.  Dr.  Jowett  points  every  word  of 
these  brief  expositions  so  that  it  tells,  while  the  lessons  he 
seeks  to  convey  are  so  propounded  as  to  enter  the  under- 
standing of  his  readers  along  a  pathway  of  light.  The  whole 
volume  is  of  true  mintage,  bearing  the  impress  of  Dr.  Jowett's 
ripest  thought  and   fruitful  mind. 

S.  D.   GORDON 

Quiet  Talks  About  the  Crowned  Chri^ 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

After  many  years'  study  of  the  one  book  of  the  Bible 
devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  crowned  Christ — the  Revelation 
of  John — Mr.  Gordon  has  put  these  latest  talks  together.  No 
book  of  the  sixty-six  has  seemed  so  much  like  a  riddle,  and 
set  so  many  guessing.  Mr.  Gordon,  however,  holds  the  deep 
conviction  that  it  is  wholly  a  practical  book,  and  concerned 
wholly  with  our  practical  daily  lives. 

F.  B.  MEYER,  B.A. 

My  Daily  Prayer 

'  A  Short  Supplication  for  Every  Day  in  the  Year. 
32mo,  leather,  net  35c;  cloth,  net  25c. 

"This  is  a  tiny  volume,  in  the  'Yet  Another  Day'  series, 
and  contains  a  brief  prayer  for  each  day  in  the  year.  Some 
of  the  petitions  contain  only  one  sentence,  but  each  one  is 
simple,  pertinent,  and  helpful." — Zion's  Herald. 

GEORGE  MATHESON 

Day  Unto  Day 

A  Brief  Prayer  for  Every  Day.  New  Edition. 
i6mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

These  choice  prayers  will  be  valued  by  the  Christian 
world  for  the  stimulus,  inspiration,  and  wide  spiritual  out- 
look which  have  made  the  memory  of  their  author  a  cher- 
ished possession. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECH ER 

A  Book  of  Public  Prayer 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

"A  distinct  addition  to  our  devotional  literature.  It  is  good 
for  private  reading;  but  would  be  especially  valuable  for 
ministers  as  an  aid  to  the  difficult,  but  immensely  important, 
service  of  voicing  the  petitions  of  a  congregation  in  public 
prayer." — Standard. 


A    A0A2 


if 


Libraries 


Date  Due 

b  ib7  ^3|*  ^ 

•■    1  5  '1 

j 

H  12  ; 

^ 

^'/?'J>^ 


MATHEWS  Z  -  Missionaries 

Paul  the  dauntless..         (Paul) 


